Five things to know about the newest Royal: Vinnie Pasquantino, the ‘Italian Nightmare’

Vinnie Pasquantino’s major-league debut is finally near.

The Kansas City Royals called up the 24-year-old slugger from the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers on Monday after trading Carlos Santana.

The left-handed hitter entered the MLB’s top 100 prospects list at No. 98 one week ago on June 22 after a hot start to the season.

And as the Royals begin the first move of a potential youth movement, Pasquantino figures to be in the team’s long term plans as one of the team’s most highly touted prospects.

Here are five things to know about the 6-foot-4-inch, 245-pound first baseman/designated hitter:

Mashing in May

In his first 11 games at the Triple-A level in April, Pasquantino initially struggled to make the leap, hitting .235 with just one extra-base hit.

But after the slow start, Pasquantino turned it on in May, smashing 12 home runs and accumulating a .320 batting average and .804 slugging percentage to win the Player of the Month award for his Triple-A league.

The combination of plus power and plate discipline project Pasquantino to be an above-average hitter in the majors.

He certainly flashed that power in the middle of May with this booming home run that left the stadium in Omaha, one of 18 homers he has hit on the season.

Pasquantino has slightly cooled off in June, hitting .232 and slugging .366 but he still holds a .948 OPS for the season.

Finding the right nickname

Former Royals great George Brett dubbed Pasquantino the “Italian Nightmare” in spring training this year.

Previously, Pasquantino had been called Italian Breakfast (a play on former Royals first baseman Billy Butler’s nickname) for much of his minor league career. But Pasquantino told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers that he prefers Italian Nightmare — mostly because the nickname came from Brett.

In fact, new Royals hitting coach Alec Zumwalt told The Athletic that Pasquantino reminded him of Brett, the Hall of Famer and longtime Kansas City third baseman, when it comes to plate discipline.

“I was asking (Brett) a million questions and one of them was, ‘What’s your thought on the strikeouts?’” Zumwalt said to The Athletic’s Alec Lewis. “There were several expletives about how much he hated striking out. He felt like, not only was he embarrassed but he let the team down. And I think Vinnie has some of that in him. He takes it seriously.”

Brett was one of baseball’s most prolific hitters, totaling 3,154 career hits and his knack for avoiding strikeouts was a large part of his success. So far, Pasquantino is following that trend: only striking out 12.2% of the time compared to the Royals’ strikeout rate of 20.4%, and adding a high 12.5% walk rate.

Battling past back injuries

After showing that plate discipline during his freshman year of college at Old Dominion with a .397 on-base percentage and more walks than strikeouts, Pasquantino’s sophomore campaign didn’t go to plan.

A back injury cut his season short after 27 games and bothered him while making his return in the summer Cape Cod League.

After months of rehab, he bounced back for his junior season in 2019, hitting .302 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. The final 16 games of the year, Pasquantino hit .402 and clearly found his groove after the time off.

Just a few months later, the Royals selected him in the 11th round at No. 391 overall, where the team says they were lucky to draft him.

Making the 500 at-bat mark

After Pasquantino’s scorching May and a down year for Santana at first base, Royals fans clamored for the call up of the red-hot prospect.

But general manager J.J. Picollo wanted Pasquantino to get his reps in at the high minor league levels and defended the decision on May 30.

After losing his 2020 season when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down minor league play, Pasquantino forced his way quickly through the system in 2021 with a strong start at High-A and an even better showing in Double-A after a promotion midway through the season.

“I was looking at this the other day, he just hit the 150 at-bat mark in Triple-A. He had 200 at-bats in Double-A,” Picollo said. “So when you look at upper level at-bats, he’s had 350 upper level at-bats. That’s not even a season’s worth, over two levels. You’d like to get, really, a full season at the highest level. That’s not set in stone, but generally you’d like to see 500, 550 plate appearances at the highest level.”

Nearly a month later, Pasquantino now has 533 plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels combined, and Picollo responded accordingly.

Rooting for New York

While Pasquantino hails from Richmond, Virginia, the Italian Nightmare is understandably a fan of New York sports.

He grew up cheering for the New York Yankees and the New York Jets, and according to his Old Dominion bio, his favorite athlete is Mark Sanchez.

One of his other favorite childhood players was Derek Jeter, and he certainly has taken to the former Yankees shortstop’s game in one way: Royals coaches and staff rave about Pasquantino’s makeup and attitude.

“This guy is a winner, first of all. Has energy. Plays his (tail) off every night. So that is what gets your attention,” Picollo said to The Athletic.

This story was originally published June 27, 2022 at 3:36 PM.