Vinnie Pasquantino not in Royals’ lineup Thursday

Pasquantino’s home run was his 14th of the season. He started the day on the bench, but entered the game in the seventh inning and hit a two-run home run. Pasquantino has five home runs and 13 RBI in 17 games in September. He’s hitting .244 with a .736 OPS and 54 RBI this year.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day of rest for the 28-year-old slugger, which has to be frustrating for fantasy managers as Pasquantino is coming off of two straight two-hit games and has homered twice in his last four contests. Salvador Perez will cover first base in his absence while Luke Maile draws a start behind the dish and will bat eighth against the Pirates.

Pasquantino got the scoring started for the Royals in the first inning when he turned a first-pitch fastball from Paul Skenes into a 410-foot homer to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Pasquantino would strike again in the third inning, this time singling to bring home Kyle Isbel. He would later come around to score on an RBI double by Maikel Garcia to push the Royals’ lead to 4-0 on a night when they were able to get to Paul Skenes early and often. It was a good night for Pasquantino, who has struggled to the tune of a .200/.274/.473 slash line on the month but has still managed to hit four homers while driving in 10 runs.

It’s a bit surprising to see Caglianone taking a seat against righty Cristian Javier, but he’s been playing through a flexor strain in his elbow, which has basically limited him to DH. It’ll be Salvador Perez drawing back into the lineup in that spot with Carter Jensen, who is one homer away from breaking Kansas City’s single-season rookie home run record, handling the catching duties.

Pasquantino had struck out twice before taking Bennett Sousa deep for a solo homer in the sixth inning. It was just his second home run off a left-hander all season. The 28-year-old first baseman is up to 12 homers with 49 RBI while hitting .240/.327/.391 across 441 plate appearances.

Pasquantino collected just two hits in the series against the Jays, but both were homers. Today’s was hit 406 feet off Spencer Arrighetti. Pasquantino is hitting .269 with five homers, 13 RBI and only four strikeouts in 18 games since coming off the injured list.

Perez is in the middle of the worst season of his career at the plate, though he’s picked things up lately. The 36-year-old has a four-game hitting streak and back-to-back games with two hits. He’s hitting .226 with a .647 OPS and 66 RBI.

Pasquantino’s home run was his 10th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Blue Jays reliever Michael Lorenzen in the ninth inning. Pasquantino’s .142 ISO is a career-low. He was 1-for-14 in his previous three games entering play Friday, so this home run doesn’t necessarily represent the start of him turning it around. Pasquantino is hitting .241 with a .710 OPS and 43 RBI.

Pasquantino clobbered a 370-foot (95.6-mph EV) two-run shot off of Simeon Woods Richardson in the sixth inning that extended the Royals’ lead to 10-0. He also added on an RBI single in the eighth inning. With his two-hit night, the 28-year-old is now hitting .245/.332/.384 with nine homers and 41 RBI on the year.

The stolen base was the seventh of Perez’s career, and his first since July of 2021. He’s having his worst season as a hitter at age 36, but consistent injuries to the Royals’ lineup have kept him hitting in the heart of the order. Despite that, he’s at 58 RBI with five weeks left in the season. Perez had driven in 100+ in each of the two seasons prior to 2026.