The key to Vinnie Pasquantino’s big Friday for KC Royals? Keeping things simple
When Vinnie Pasquantino stepped to the plate in Friday’s series opener at Oracle Park — a 3-1 Royals win over San Francisco — the defensive alignment facing him was familiar ... yet different.
The Giants brought their third baseman to short, played their shortstop as a second baseman, put their second baseman on the back of the dirt midway between first and second and had their first baseman just off the bag.
Sound familiar?
The shift, at least the more extreme versions of it, has been policed out of Major League Baseball with new guidelines that limit the placement of infielders. Teams are finding ways to adjust, such as the Royals bringing an outfielder up to where a shifting infielder might have previously been, or the Giants essentially putting on the type of shift a pull-hitting lefty used to face with a runner on first.
Compare the shift Eric Hosmer faced in a random series against the Yankees back in 2016 to the one Pasquantino faced on Friday; there’s little difference.
This is, in effect, a lot of words to say clubs are still looking for every advantage against hitters who tend to place the ball in the same spots over and over, which is part of why Pasquantino, fresh off by far his best game of the 2023 season, isn’t trying to overanalyze what the other team is doing.
In his own words, Pasquantino steps to the plate, glances to see where the defense is and then goes from there.
“Just continued the same thing that I’ve been feeling with my swing all season,” said Pasquantino, who went 2 for 3 with his first home run of 2023, a go-ahead blast to right field in the fourth inning. “Just was a good day.”
Pasquantino, in fact, agreed that “simplifying” things was the way he and others have been approaching at-bats during a stretch that has seen the Royals struggle offensively to start the year — despite a high number of hard-hit balls that have seemed to find their way to opposing gloves more often than not.
“This game is too hard to change your approach on a daily basis,” Pasquantino said. “It’ll beat you up if you do that. The only way to try to stay mentally sane is to be consistent.”
Now, back to the shift.
None of the balls Pasquantino hit on Friday would’ve been affected much by any alignment, save for something unorthodox, like the Astros throwing six of a possible seven players on one side of second base. (That, of course, would not be legal by today’s rules.)
Pasquantino’s first at-bat resulted in a flyout to center that left the bat at 108.3 mph. It traveled 377 feet, just shy of the 391-foot distance needed to reach the wall in center field.
His next at-bat was a home run that Pasquantino wasn’t even sure would clear the wall when it left his bat.
“I don’t know enough about the ballpark,” Pasquantino said. “I don’t know enough about the wind to know where that was going. I just saw (Michael) Conforto in right was kind of looking (at) the wall, so I figured I’d run.”
Pasquantino’s last hit was a single to center that screamed through the space between the re-positioned shortstop and second baseman with an exit velocity of 103.2 mph. Put another way, his softest-hit ball was the one that left the park.
“Pasquantino? That’s a big guy. He should be hitting like that,” joked catcher Salvador Perez. “It’s good. It’s good. He hit the ball pretty good today.”
It’s also something Pasquantino, Perez and others figured would come if the Royals continued to put together good at-bats.
“They’re in the middle of the order; we hope and expect they’re going to be able to do that,” interim manager Paul Hoover said of Perez and Pasquantino, who each hit their first home runs of the season on Friday. “As the top goes, we’ll go. Hopefully those guys are getting comfortable.”
And for the record, Pasquantino, now batting .208, does feel like there’s significantly more space to hit the ball into with the rule changes regarding the shift in MLB.
“It’s a big difference just cause they’re not able to load up everybody on (one) side of the field,” Pasquantino said, later adding: “Objectively speaking, there’s more space.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2023 at 8:21 PM.
