Royals Fan Favorite Rewarded For .500 AVG With Player Of The Week Recognition
A slow start in 2025 for Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino has largely been forgotten.
Since Apr. 30, the day after his season OPS reached a dismal .544, Pasquantino has slashed .359/.404/.531 across 36 games. He's led the team with seven home runs in that time frame, and on Saturday, he became the first Royal to hit double-digit home runs for the season.
More recently, Pasquantino went 13-for-26 (.500 AVG) in the Royals' six games last week. That kind of performance will turn heads, and the 27-year-old fan favorite got some well-deserved recognition.
On Monday, Pasquantino was named the American League's Player of the Week by Major League Baseball. New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso took home the honor in the National League.
Ironically enough, Pasquantino won the award the first week the Royals batted him in the cleanup spot of the order, shifting him down one place from his usual number-three slot.
“Vinnie has been swinging the bat really well for like six, seven weeks now,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said this weekend, per Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star. “I don’t know if that has much to do with where he is hitting in the order. If it does, good, but he has been on a pretty good hot streak here for a while now.”
Pasquantino's final slash line for the week was .500/.536/.769 (1.305 OPS). He added two home runs, a double, four runs, and seven RBI.
With the New York Yankees coming to town, the Royals are looking to avenge their postseason loss from 2024. There's no better time for Pasquantino to be on fire, though he'll have to contend with tough lefty Max Fried on Tuesday night.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org