KANSAS CITY -- Vinnie Pasquantino won¡¯t share all of his goals for 2025, but there¡¯s one obvious one: Be available every day.
All three seasons Pasquantino has been in the big leagues, he¡¯s missed time with injury. In 2022, his rookie season, it was only a few weeks with right shoulder discomfort. But that turned into three months in ¡®23 when he had right shoulder surgery to fix the issue. Then last year, Pasquantino missed the final month of the regular season with a broken right thumb, returning for the postseason after an intense five weeks of rehab.
Not being healthy for a full season so far in his career is ¡°one of the things that keeps me up at night,¡± Pasquantino said this spring.
So when the Royals¡¯ slugger suffered a right hamstring strain six days ago, in the final game the Royals played in Arizona, his status for Opening Day immediately became a major concern.
But by Thursday, Pasquantino was cleared to play and a big sigh of relief came with his name on the roster and in the lineup.
¡°Anybody [who has] asked what my goals are for the season, it¡¯s to be available every day,¡± Pasquantino said. ¡°We were running it a little close there. But we¡¯re available today, and that¡¯s all that matters.¡±
On Thursday, Pasquantino showed why his presence in the lineup is so important. He homered and doubled in his first game of 2025, and although it wasn¡¯t enough to help the Royals rally past the Guardians, Pasquantino looked like he picked up where he left off before his thumb injury last year. The 27-year-old drove in 97 runs in 2024 and was a key part of their offense in the middle of the order.
¡°Me knowing Vinnie, I knew he was going to be in the lineup,¡± Bobby Witt Jr. said. ¡°Who he is as a player, the at-bats he takes, it¡¯s a big piece of the puzzle. It¡¯s great having him back, having him ready and ready to rock.¡±
In the third inning on Thursday, Pasquantino sent a 1-1 curveball from Guardians starter Ben Lively into the Royals¡¯ bullpen for the team¡¯s first home run of the year. Pasquantino wouldn¡¯t have been at the plate in that moment if it weren¡¯t for Witt hustling down the line on an infield single moments earlier; Witt registered a 31.3 feet/second sprint speed on the hit and went from home to first in 3.96 seconds. That extended the inning for Pasquantino, and showed exactly why the two work so well hitting back-to-back.
¡°[Lively] was trying to go to a front-hip sinker, he missed more middle and I missed it,¡± Pasquantino said. ¡°And then he went cutter up and in. [Witt] stole second, so first base was open and Salvy¡¯s behind me, so in my head, I was like, ¡®He¡¯s probably going to be a bit more careful. Something low [and] see if he can get me to chase.¡¯ He put one high enough that I was able to get to it.
¡°Happy with the swing. Felt really good about it.¡±
The Royals will certainly take 97 RBIs from Pasquantino again in 2025, but he¡¯s looking for even more production. If you ask him, he hasn¡¯t lived up to his own expectations in his young career, with a .785 OPS and 39 homers across parts of four seasons.
¡°I feel like I can be one of the best hitters in the league,¡± Pasquantino said. ¡°The numbers don¡¯t back that up. But it¡¯s how I feel. I feel like I can do damage every time I go up there. I feel like there¡¯s a reason I hit third in the lineup. In my own selfish opinion, it¡¯s not a lineup construction thing, it¡¯s, ¡®Hey, you¡¯re one of our best hitters, and we want you to get a lot of at-bats and drive in runs.¡¯ That¡¯s what I want to do, too.¡±
That is why manager Matt Quatraro has Pasquantino hit third (and it helps that he¡¯s the lefty batter sandwiched between the righties Witt and Perez).
Pasquantino¡¯s production on Thursday was another reminder of how important he is to this team -- and why his health remains just as pertinent, too.
¡°Vinnie picked up where he left off,¡± starter Cole Ragans said. ¡°He drove in a lot of runs for us last year. He¡¯s a big part of our lineup. Seeing him bust his butt, he¡¯s got the [hamstring] that¡¯s going on, but he looks pretty normal to me.¡±