How has Kansas City Royals 1B Vinnie Pasquantino Done Since return from injury?

It has been an interesting season for Vinnie Pasquantino and the Royals, both of whom started the year slowly, started to get into a good rhythm in June, then got hurt. Well, the Royals are still dealing with a handful of injuries, but Pasquantino has been back in action for ten games after recovering from a fractured hamate in his right hand. How has he done since returning to the lineup?

Pasquantino came off the IL on July 10 and got his first action the day after in the second game of the Baltimore Orioles' season just before the All-Star break. While he didn't put together a great return, going 1-for-8 in those two games with a walk, since the break he has been solid at the plate.

Since his return, Vinnie is slashing .306/.405/.333 for an OPS of .738 and a wRC+ of 111. It isn't a world-beating slash line, but he has been in solid form since his return. He is also continuing to show his discipline at the plate during this stretch, walking in 11.9% of his plate appearances, which is in line with his walk rate overall this season (11.1%).

If we extrapolate his numbers since June 1, he is slashing .301/.383/.386 for an OPS of .769 and a wRC+ of 114. Within that stretch of games, Vinnie also put together an on-base streak of 18 games, which gave batters behind him plenty of chances to drive him in 13 times. The walks and contact approach have been crucial in his return for the Royals offense.

A key topic with Vinnie during this stretch, and specifically during his rehab in Northwest Arkansas, was that he was tweaking his batting stance.

As @jtpenfield pointed out last night, Vinnie Pasquantino made a noticeable adjustment at the plate.

The clip on the right is from Tuesday on his rehab assignment.

Carter Jensen made a similar adjustment a month ago. pic.twitter.com/o58QhpOXBu
— Jack Johnson (@JohnyJ_15) July 8, 2026

While the stance on the right isn't what it looked like, say, in the most recent Royals game (2:24 time-stamp) against the Tigers. He is adjusting to not having the bat rest on his shoulder before he starts his swing, and keeping his hands more active before triggering a swing. So far, the adjustment has worked for the bat-to-ball skills, as noted, he has a .306 average in his return, but a season long issue still persists.

In his slash line since his return, many will notice the .333 slugging percentage, and that has been the story the whole season. Vinnie hasn't found the power stroke yet; his season SLG stands at .348, and he has one extra-base hit since his return to action, a double. On the year, he has 19 extra-base hits and has yet to reach double-digit home runs. For reference, in 2025, he had 66 extra-base hits with a career-high 32 home runs.

This year, he is averaging an exit velocity of 89.0 mph, which is on the lower side of his average, and during this ten-game stretch, he is averaging an exit velocity of 90.4 mph. That is a good sign for the power coming back slowly, and his Hard% (percentage of balls in play classified as hit with hard speed) sits at 52.2 during this stretch furthering that the power surge could be coming.

As can be the case with a hand injury, a good sign from Vinnie is that he is back to manning first base and has only been the DH once. That is good for the Royals, as his defense has been solid this year with a career-high 4 Defensive Runs Saved, to go with zeros in FRV and OAA. Also, during this stretch, he added two more stolen bases to bring his career tally to seven, and his season total to four. He has yet to be caught stealing.

The Royals have been playing some solid baseball since the All-Star break, and Vinnie Pasquantino is going right along with that. While the power isn't there yet, the contact and walks have been enough for him to be a productive cog in the Royals lineup since the All-Star break.

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