Has Vinnie Pasquantino Shown Enough To Earn an Extension From the Royals?

While that particular week was undoubtedly one to remember for Pasquantino and the Royals, he’s been red-hot for the past two months, especially in the power department.

Pasquantino is only hitting .233 in 149 plate appearances in the second half. However, his slugging percentage is .586, which is 149 points higher than it was heading into the All-Star break. Additionally, his .888 OPS in the second half is 122 points higher, and he has 13 home runs in just 34 games. That is only two fewer than he hit in 404 plate appearances in the first half of the season.

All told, with 28 home runs, 92 RBI, a .261 average, and a .796 OPS in 554 plate appearances this year, Pasquantino has exceeded his performance from a season ago in pretty much every metric (in roughly the same number of plate appearances as well). He does have five fewer RBI, but he has nine more home runs, two more hits, and his OPS is five points higher.

At the very least, the Royals’ 27-year-old first baseman is showing the potential to be a 30 to 40-home run hitter at the MLB level. Those kinds of hitters do not grow on trees, especially at Kauffman Stadium, which can be tough for hitters when it comes to hitting home runs (Kauffman has the third-lowest HR factor in MLB, according to Baseball Savant).

Therefore, the Royals are in a bit of a dilemma, especially with Pasquantino becoming arbitration-eligible this offseason: Do they invest now in their first baseman, or do they wait and see for another year or two?

Pasquantino’s 2025 By the Numbers

When it comes to his Statcast and batted-ball metrics, Pasquantino has shown some signs of improvement in 2025.

After posting a 7.1% barrel rate, 112.2 mph max exit velocity, and 31.9% sweet-spot percentage last season, he is sporting a 10.3% barrel rate, 114.4 mph max exit velocity, and 32.9% sweet-spot percentage this year.

His hard-hit rate is down from 46.5% in 2024 to 43.9% this year. That said, his ability to launch the ball better (a two-degree increase in average launch angle from last year) has led to more productive contact overall, despite the dip in hard-hit rate.

As a result of all these improvements, his expected wOBA (xwOBA) rolling chart has looked a lot more impressive this season, with much higher peaks than in previous years:

MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa pointed out Pasquantino’s improvement in barreling the ball in a recent segment. Below is a clip featuring what he said about the Royals’ first baseman and his slugging this season:

DeRosa, in the segment, primarily highlighted Pasquantino pulling the ball a lot more this year, which has led to more overall success. When looking at his spray chart via Baseball Savant, it’s easy to see all the pulled-ball hits, especially of the homer variety:

Based on his spray chart, it seems Pasquantino has made it a focus to get ahead and launch the ball to the right field side. All of his homers have either been to right or right-center, and even a majority of his singles have been to right field as well.

Now, let’s take a look at what his spray chart looked like from 2023 to ’24 combined:

He still hit a majority of his home runs and base hits to right and right-center over those two years. That said, there were a lot more hits to left center and straightaway center as well. He also had fewer home runs in that right-center gap from 2023 to ’24, which shows that he wasn’t pulling the ball as efficiently as he needed to in those seasons.

A factor in this improvement could be Pasquantino’s improved bat speed.

After sporting a 71.7 mph average bat speed last year, his bat speed has improved to 72.6 mph this season, according to Baseball Savant bat tracking data. Furthermore, his fast-swing rate (swings greater than or equal to 75 mph) is 28.1%, a significant improvement upon his 19.7% mark a year ago.

Pasquantino is not just seeing the ball better, but he’s made key adjustments with his swing to unlock the power monster that baseball fans have seen in the second half.

What Does Pasquantino’s Future in Kansas City Look Like?

Even though he will be 28 years old in October, Pasquantino has proven to be a bargain for the Royals, accumulating 4.4 fWAR in 394 career games at the Major League level in pre-arbitration. This year, he has amassed a 1.3 fWAR, which roughly translates to around $10.5 million in value on the open market, according to FanGraphs’ value calculator.

That is much more than what the Royals are paying him this year, as highlighted by Sleeper Royals on Twitter:

That said, the bargain will be over this offseason, as the Royals will have to pay Pasquantino significantly more during his arbitration-eligible years. This will put the Royals in a bit of a bind, especially since they will have other important players entering arbitration as well. That list includes relievers Lucas Erceg and Angel Zerpa, as well as third baseman Maikel Garcia.

An extension for Pasquantino to buy out his remaining three years of arbitration (and maybe a free agency year or two) sounds great on paper. However, that could take away resources that might instead go toward a possible extension from Garcia, who’s been worth 3.2 fWAR more than Pasquantino this year and 3.6 more than Pasquantino over his career.

Additionally, the Royals have another power hitter who can play first base on their 40-man roster in Jac Caglianone. While Caglianone has been playing more right field this year, he started his professional career as a first baseman, and that may be the better position for Caglianone in the long term.

In 161 plate appearances with Kansas City, Caglianone is only hitting .147 with a 29 wRC+, according to FanGraphs. However, he hit five home runs in the major leagues and has 19 home runs in the minor leagues this year between Omaha and Northwest Arkansas.

During a rehab stint in Omaha, he has continued to hit the ball well and is making a strong case that he may be ready for a return sooner rather than later.

At 22 years old, Caglianone has a higher ceiling than Pasquantino, particularly in terms of power. Furthermore, Pasquantino’s defense is not stellar at first this year either (he has a -2 fielding run value and -4 OAA, according to Savant).

It may be in the Royals’ best interests to wait and see what Pasquantino and Caglianone will do in 2026 before making any contractual decisions, especially with the former.

There’s no question that Pasquantino brings a lot of leadership and energy to the clubhouse and Kansas City’s fan base. That said, the Royals must do what’s best for both the short and long-term of this organization.

If Caglianone can improve his plate discipline and approach in 2026, Pasquantino may become expendable and a trade piece to improve the team in another area, namely the outfield.

All stats updated prior to games on August 26.