YouTube broadcasters noted Royals fans’ frustrations with team’s first-base situation
YouTube streamed a Royals game for the first time this season, and broadcasters Scott Braun and Yonder Alonso mentioned the frustrations some Kansas City fans are feeling.
Braun noted Royals first baseman Carlos Santana is scuffling this season as he’s batting .161 with two home runs in 36 games.
When Santana stepped to the plate in the second inning, his average was just .150, and YouTube showed his stats, along with those of a pair of first basemen at Triple-A Omaha: Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto.
“I will say we don’t sugarcoat things here on YouTube, Carlos Santana is struggling this season,” Braun said. “And some of Kansas City’s best prospects happened to be first basemen, including 24-year-old Vinnie Pasquantino, who has an OPS over a thousand at Triple-A. He’s 24 years old, just won International League Player of the Week, and there’s some Free Vinnie chants running around on social media these days.”
Yep, Royals fans have been sharing that hashtag, which means they want to see Pasquantino at Kauffman Stadium.
Yonder Alonso then talked up the 36-year-old Santana.
“It’s hard for Carlos, right, understanding that there is that guy that’s going to be coming in and your leash is kind of coming up to an end, right?” Alonso said. “And for him, he still got to be a professional and he is a professional, right? Look, he’s still going to work hard. He’s still going to be a leader in that clubhouse, and he’s still going to be that guy where he can provide some good information out to these young guys.
“He still does a lot of good things right? He plays really good defense. He still has productive at-bats and he’s still got a good eye at the plate so there’s no need to panic so much. This is a guy that can turn it around in a heartbeat.”
Braun also mentioned Pratto, the Royals’ first-round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft before shifting back to Pasquantino.
“We showed you the other name, Nick Pratto, looks like Don Mattingly, Gold Glove caliber. ... Pasquantino leading the way on offense for that Triple-A Omaha squad,” Braun said.
After that talk about Pasquantino and Pratto, Santana reached on a single.
Here is the conversation which probably didn’t make the Royals’ decision-makers happy.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 11:04 AM.
