June 28, 2022
The Royals called up one of their top prospects, the 6’4, 245 pound first-baseman Vinnie Pasquantino today. He will be batting 6th in the Royals order today as the DH. The Royals traded their starting first baseman Carlos Santana to the Mariners yesterday in order to have a roster spot for Pasquantino. The Royals also received two minor league pitchers, but he seems to be the main reason for the trade. Since they are struggling in 5th place this year, he certainly fits the Royals need for youth on the roster. Pasquantino is a 24-year-old who was drafted in the 11th round in 2019. Since then, he has hit .293/.382/.955 in the minors through 898 at bats with 56 homers and 204 RBI’s. That’s certainly nothing to shake a stick at.
Pasquantino has played exclusively at AAA this year. While at either 1st base or DH, he has absolutely mashed the ball so far this year, which really forced the Royals to make the Santana trade. He has hit .280/.372/.576 with a .948 OPS. To make it even sweeter, he doesn’t strike out a whole lot. He only has 36 strikeouts in 250 At Bats this year and had 64 last year in 437 At Bats. He also draws a lot of walks, getting 64 last year. Yes, that means he got as many walks as strikeouts, which is extremely rare in today’s game. Pasquantino’s BABIP has actually been much lower than his usual, so he might be getting slightly UNLUCKY this season, which is kind of scary for opposing pitchers. It is only at .257 this year, while last year it was at .302. In case you are wondering how your batting average on balls in play could be lower than your actual batting average, it is because Sacrifice Flies are taken into consideration in BABIP but not Batting Average, making it possible for a player to have a lower BABIP than Batting Average. Pasquantino has 6 Sac Flies this year, which would explain the split.
Pasquantino is ranked No. 3 in the Royals system by MLB.com and No. 98 in the top 100 prospects. He brings a great bat to a team that badly needs offense. The Royals are 26th in team OPS so far this season and the highest OPS on the team for full-time players is .755 (Benintendi and Witt Jr. are currently tied). The Royals will be hoping that he can jump-start their offense to end the year on a high note. I expect Pasquantino to hold his own in the Majors. He should hit fine in the Majors, but if he struggles at first they will still give him plenty of opportunities. Best of luck to Pasquantino is his debut and for the rest of the season.