WEST SACRAMENTO -- Vinnie Pasquantino exited Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the A’s with low back tightness, something he’s been dealing with for “a while,” he said. He was not in the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the A’s either.
Pasquantino saw 19 pitches between his first two plate appearances on Tuesday, a 10-pitch double and a nine-pitch walk. When he grounded out to lead off the sixth inning, he noticeably grimaced as he was coming out of his swing and beginning the run to first.
“I was just having a hard time getting it loose today,” Pasquantino said. “My work was real light because of that. Just trying to get ready for the game. Felt like I had two productive at-bats to start, and then the last one just felt like I couldn’t make the moves that I wanted to make. I had a hard time getting out of my swing and then running to first.”
Pasquantino didn’t specify how long “a while” is, but he did say he and the Royals have been trying to manage it.
That includes treatment, and he’s been wearing a heating/massage back pad in the dugout to help keep it loose recently.
“It’s day to day, but for whatever reason, today, it acted up a little bit more,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He had some pretty long at-bats with a lot of swings involved, so maybe that has something to do with it. It’s just more – anybody that’s ever had that low back [pain], sometimes it flares up, and you don’t really know why.”
The Royals don’t expect an injured list stint to be necessary, at least at this moment, characterizing Wednesday’s absence from the lineup as more of a precaution.
“Vinnie is better than he was last night,” Quatraro said Wednesday afternoon. “He’ll be available off the bench. It’s just more trying to be cautious and play for the long haul here than get him out there today.”