DETROIT -- Long before the first Pasquatch sighting was reported in Royals Nation, Vinnie Pasquantino was just another fresh-faced kid trying to make his mark on Major League Baseball. The 11th-round Draft pick was two games into his MLB career and remained hitless but hopeful as Kansas City touched down in Detroit on a warm June night in 2022.
The next day, his first Major League hit left Comerica Park at 112.7 mph, and Pasquantino’s legacy was born.
That his first career hit was a home run isn’t surprising, although the swat was made even more memorable by the confusion surrounding the play that left Pasquantino to quip, “I got tagged out by Javy Báez on second base on my first career homer; that’s pretty cool.”
Sixty-four homers and three seasons later, Pasquantino took the field at Comerica Park a little older and wiser, but still every bit as entertaining and good-natured as the starry-eyed rookie and club No. 3 prospect he was three years ago.
Pasquantino was in position to make another unforgettable memory in Detroit on Saturday night, as a home run during the Royals’ 4-2 loss to the Tigers would have given the slugger a long ball in a franchise-record six consecutive games.
Pasquantino’s lone hit stayed in the park, so the record remains unbroken for now. He still made himself heard at the plate with an RBI double to secure his second straight 90-RBI season.
“He’s hitting the ball really good right now,” said catcher Salvador Perez, whose five-game homer streak in 2021, along with Mike Sweeney’s in 2002, was the one Pasquantino tied on Friday. “Hopefully, he can keep doing what he does and help this team to win.”
George Brett dubbed Pasquantino "The Italian Nightmare" during Pasquantino’s first Major League Spring Training in 2022. It was funny at the time, but looking back, it was also a pretty prodigious prediction.
While Pasquantino has certainly caused opposing pitchers their share of fits lately, the reputation he’s built helps others around him succeed, too. The 27-year-old has 15 home runs and 41 RBIs in his past 41 games, and he also leads the American League with 34 RBIs since the All-Star break.
Pasquantino also has 24 RBIs in 34 career games against division-rival Detroit, his most vs. any opponent, a fact that wasn’t lost on manager Matt Quatraro.
“There are other guys who are performing at a high level, too, which takes some of the pressure off other people,” Quatraro said. “And Vinnie might be benefiting from that, as well as other guys benefiting from him doing well, because people are planning for him, and somebody else might be the beneficiary of that.
“We can never have enough guys performing at a high level. If all 13 guys are on fire, that's great for everybody, right? And makes it very much more challenging for the opposing team.”
Bobby Witt Jr., who went 3-for-4 with a home run Saturday, is riding an AL-best 12-game hit streak during which he’s hitting .435 (20-for-46) with six RBIs. But pitching around him to face Pasquantino doesn’t seem like the lesser of any evils when cleanup hitter Maikel Garcia follows Pasquantino, with the veteran Perez bringing up the rear. It makes for a pretty intense heart of the order that’s as good for Kansas City as it is bad for its opponents.
“Any time you come to play, you want to try to help a team and any factor of it,” Witt said.
While the offense battled to gain momentum in Detroit, Michael Wacha turned in his 12th quality start this season, holding the AL Central-leading Tigers to three runs over six innings. His efforts included a memorable 15-pitch at-bat against Dillon Dingler with two on in the sixth that ended with a called strike three to end the threat and cap Wacha’s outing.
For the second night in a row, all the pieces were there, but Kansas City lacked a final push over the hump. Pasquantino and Co. remain confident that their recent hot streak will resume shortly as the Royals continue to jockey for position in a tight AL Wild Card race.
“We're always playing for something, no matter what game it is in the series,” Wacha said. “... I know our guys are going to be able to flush this one, and get back out there and compete our tails off the way we know how to compete. That's our main focus right now.”