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Can Vinnie Pasquantino Overcome His Slow Start?

Jul 3, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals first base Vinnie Pasquantino (9) hits an RBI single in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports © Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

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Can Vinnie Pasquantino Overcome His Slow Start?

Originally posted on Kansas City Royals on SI
By Trey Donovan | Last updated Apr 26, 2026 1:00 PM ET

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The baseball season is in full swing, and after a month or so of action, players are figuring out adjustments that need to be made to better their seasons. For the Royals, one of those players is first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and the struggles he has had to start the year. Welcome back to the deep dives.

As usual, with the deep dives, we start with the basics, then dive into the underlying numbers to tell the story of a player's season. Starting with the slash line for Pasquantino, he has slashed a paltry .155/.261/.289 for an OPS of .550. That is not ideal for a starting first baseman, but he is known as a slow starter, outside of his WBC start.

Let's dive a little bit deeper into the numbers. The "Pasquatch" has a wRC+ of 52 to start the year, meaning he is 48% worse than the average hitter, a wOBA of .254, and an ISO (Isolated power) of .134. All below league average and not good for a first baseman.

Despite those numbers, though, there are a couple of numbers that are good for the "Pasquatch." One of those is his walk rate of 12.2%, which is a career high to start the year. Another number that can be taken positively is his absurdly low BABIP (batting average on balls in play) of .162, meaning he could be getting a tad unlucky. This leads us to our next subject, Vinnie's batted ball profile and contact profile.

The Pop Up Issues

This leads to his interesting batted ball profile, as, on paper, it looks solid. He is hitting fewer grounders at 37.7% and more balls in the air at 62.3%, which are good rates. Where the ball is going off the bat isn't terrible either, as he is pulling the ball over half the time and going to the opposite field at a career-high rate. The issue lies in one specific number and the quality of contact.

One of the main issues for the Royals in general is their pop-up rates. Vinnie is a key factor in this as well, with his PU% (pop-up percentage) being 11.7%, a career-high. For Vinnie, the pop-ups aren't the only concern as his under% is 35.1, meaning he is hitting flyballs more, but they are not good flyballs.

A key factor in this development may be Vinnie's bat speed. In 2025, he had an average bat speed of 72.5 mph and had a fast swing rate of 26.4%. Fast forward to this season, and Vinnie's bat speed is 69.6 mph with a fast swing rate of 4.0%. This is a major concern, but there lies a number that shows he is tweaking some things. That number is his ideal attack angle%.

To put into layman's terms, ideal attack angle% is the percent of swings that have an attack angle of 5-20 degrees. Vinnie has a 61.5 ideal attack angle, meaning he is taking good swings, but the bat speed and timing are slightly off. The best way to show his timing is off is through his run value chart.

The 4-Seam Concerns

Vinnie has been terrible against 4-seam fastballs this season. Last year, he had a run value of three on 4-seams mainly through his .502 slugging against them. This year, he already has a run value of negative-4 as he is hitting .179 and slugging .256 on those fastballs this season.

Going a little deeper into the struggle, on 4-seam fastballs faster than 90 mph and slower than 95 mph, Vinnie is hitting .267 with one extra base hit if he hits them into play. On 4-seam fastballs faster than 95 mph, he is hitting .200. Adding in the other fastballs doesn't shift the numbers a ton either as he lies at a .217 average on balls in play.

The Positives

While there are a lot of negatives in his profile, Vinnie has done some things well. Despite the struggles with fastballs, he has slugged sinkers to start the year. He has a run value of three on sinkers this season due to his .500 slugging against that pitch. Another good number for him is his low whiff% of 17.9, which is normal for him.

Over the last couple of series, Vinnie has slowly started turning a corner. Since April 17, the start of the Yankees series, Vinnie is slashing .154/.303/.423 for an OPS of .726. He is walking more than he is striking out and of the four hits he has in this stretch, three of them are for extra bases. Another good sign in this stretch is his bat speed is speeding up as it sits at 70 mph during this stretch.

Stepping away from the bat, a key development for Vinnie this season is that he has worked on his defense. He has an Outs Above Average (OAA), Fielding Run Value (FRV), and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) of two in each stat. If the season ended today, his FRV and DRS would be career bests.

Conclusion

Vinnie has struggled again to start the year. Looking at his career wRC+ through the first month of action, he has garnered an 83 wRC+. The last two seasons have been his worst starts, but he turns it around starting in May. The main concern and key for his turnaround is getting his bat speed up and his timing down on fastballs, specifically.

The "Pasquatch" has shown that he can recover from a slow start to the year, but if the Royals are to try to compete in the AL Central after digging themselves a hole, Vinnie needs to get hot soon. The defensive development is nice, but for the Royals, they need their first baseman to be the guy to drive in Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr.