Fans in Kansas City are awaiting news on the status of their first baseman after Vinnie Pasquantino exited today’s game with what the Royals announced as a right hamstring strain. The club added that Pasquantino will continue to be evaluated, and MLB.com’s Anne Rogers adds the club expects to know more tomorrow about the severity of the issue, including whether or not the slugger will miss time due to the issue. For his part, Pasquantino told reporters (including Rogers) this evening that he feels “fine.”
“I don’t want to put any timeframe on it, but I don’t think – my gut tells me it’s not going to affect anything,” Pasquantino said, as “But my gut is not the medical staff. So we’ll get it evaluated tomorrow and we’ll see.”
While it’s certainly feasible that the issue proves to be mild enough that Pasquantino doesn’t miss significant time, it’s somewhat difficult to imagine him being back in the lineup in time for Opening Day, which is just five days away. Even a relatively mild strain could be cause for a short stint on the injured list, though if Pasquantino manages to avoid the IL it wouldn’t be the first time he’s successfully defied the conventional wisdom when it comes to recovery time. The first baseman suffered a broken thumb in the final days of August last year and was slated to miss between six and eight weeks, but wound up coming back just a month later to participate in the club’s Wild Card series against the Orioles.
Of course, getting back in time for Opening Day is not as significant as making it back onto the field for the Royals’ first playoff appearance since their 2015 World Series championship was last year. With a long season ahead, it would hardly be a surprise if the Royals decided to proceed cautiously with one of their top hitters. A career .267/.335/.445 (114 wRC+) hitter who posted a 108 wRC+ last year, only AL MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. and veteran slugger Salvador Perez were more valuable for Kansas City last year at the plate than Pasquantino.
Fortunately, the club is better equipped to handle an injury of this sort now that it was last year. Adding Jonathan India to the club’s offense should offer another solidly above-average bat to contribute on a regular basis and extend the lineup even if Pasquantino misses time, and the club coincidentally added veteran Mark Canha in a trade with the Brewers just yesterday. While Canha appeared likely to be tasked with shoring up the club’s outfield depth entering the season, if Pasquantino misses time the 36-year-old should be able to slide into the first base job fairly seamlessly and provide at least average production at the position while Pasquantino recovers. An injured list stint for Pasquantino could also open the door for out-of-options first baseman Nick Pratto, a lefty-swinging former top prospect who seemed unlikely to break camp with the club, to fill in and either platoon with Canha or at least spell him on days the Royals would like to utilize him in the outfield.
appreciate him clarifying that the medical staff is NOT his gut, i had questions about that prior
Now you are whole!
Has there ever been any kind of study about whether the dry Arizona climate has more or less injuries than the humid Florida climate?
With a lot of these soft tissue injuries I wonder about the role of dehydration and that leads me to wonder if climate plays a role.
How would you test that and exclude so many other factors contributing to injury? Every individual is different and unless you used an exact copy of a person in all tests there is no way to demonstrate anything more than correlation even if you could show something. But I’m sure some homeopathic nutball could come up with some untested probiotic bs to help out.
Colorado does provide an altitude effect due to oxygen levels. Dry there too. But if you look at lists of places to live due to chronic pain. Dry areas with stability seem to win out. I can’t buy a dehydration issue easily though. Players now have plenty of training staff and great nutrition and conditioning. Pulled muscles are kind of natural.
Get well Barbarino!
Vinnie testicles.
Last season Nick Pratto became the only position player ever to have is only MLB appearance of the season come as a pitcher
Jayson Stark, is that you?
Jayson Stark drives me stark raving mad. Nice guy, but his writing just tries too hard.
Dan Pasqua continues to live another day.
They just got Mark Canha, a solid hitter who can play first base or outfield, and they already have Nick Pratto, a guy who crushes right-handed pitchers. Pair them up—Canha hits better against lefties, Pratto against righties—and add Jonathan India’s strong bat elsewhere, and the Royals could still have one of the best lineups in baseball, even without Pasquantino.
While I wish what you said was true sadly it is not. Pratto has a .649 ops against righties and .691 against lefties. He can’t hit either.
No clue why that posted twice!
False. Witt is the only thing they have going for them in that offense.
I have to disagree on the “one of the best lineups in baseball” remark. Even with Pasquatino. Their OF is atrocious. Canha actually improves it heavily with his 350 OBP, but only because that’s how bad it was. Now if they could bat Witt about 4 times through it everytime, then maybe.