Insanely ill-timed dig at Vinnie Pasquantino seems to have cursed Royals’ offense

In a statement that has become all to familiar this season, the Kansas City Royals are struggling. They now hold sole possession of the worst record in the American League and only a game separates them from the lowly Colorado Rockies for the worst record in all of baseball. And in their latest losing stretch, it’s been their offense that has struggled in particular.

Before losing six of their last seven games, while the win-loss column may not have reflected it, the Royals’ offense was soaring. As one X user pointed out, while throwing the injured Vinnie Pasquantino under the bus in the process, the Royals were leading the league virtually across the board in numerous categories including runs, batting average, hard-hit rate and slugging percentage since the first baseman landed on the injured list.

However what seems to happen from time-to-time with Twitter remarks like this is that reality comes to rear it’s ugly head. And in this case it did just that. Another X user pointed out days after this remark that the Royals had gone 1-5 since the post and been outscored 62-16.

And that only proved more true after Wednesday’s game to open the new month, where the Royals were shutout 4-0 at home to the Tampa Bay Rays, raising their combined scoring deficit to 50 runs over the past seven games.

Offensive bright spots have been few and far between for Royals over past week

After games of scoring 14 runs, 12 runs, 10 runs before this past week, the Royals offense has shriveled up entirely. And the big issue is that there’s been many glaring weak spots that were once strengths keeping them alive in a pretty wide open AL Wild Card race.

Jac Caglianone is no longer looking like the force he once was for much of June, posting a .130/.167/.217 with a -3 wRC+. Salvador Perez continues to prove that his best days may very well be behind him, posting a -20 wRC+ himself. Lane Thomas’ trade value could be sinking with a -17 wRC+ himself this week. And Nick Loftin doesn’t appear to be the injury replacement extraordinaire that he’d been for much of the year, posting a -73 wRC+ this week, the lowest of any Royals hitter with 10+ plate appearances in that span.

Thankfully, Bobby Witt Jr. has returned from the IL admirably and looks like the AL MVP candidate he did before his brief injury and certainly worthy of the All-Star starting nod he seems to be the frontrunner for at shortstop. This week he’s belted a pair of homers with four RBI, a .278/.333/.667 slash line and 159 wRC+ in five games.

Then, behind him, while it might not be much Witt isn’t entirely by himself. Carter Jensen has kept his hot streak rolling with a 121 wRC+ this week, Isaac Collins has done a 180-degree shift on his dreadfully poor season with a .278/.350/.444 slash line and 120 wRC+ in his last 20 plate appearances. And if Thomas won’t look the part of a potential trade deadline asset, Starling Marte is looking strong in opportunities he’s getting, posting a .300 AVG, .762 OPS and 132 wRC+ in his last four games and 13 plate appearances.

Still, four performers, with only two being regulars, is not nearly enough production for the Royals to look like a functional baseball team. And at this point, with the season looking more far gone by the day, that’s all fans can hope for at this point – just don’t look like the worst team in baseball.

Perhaps the Royals do in fact need Vinnie Pasquantino after all, because his absence certainly doesn’t look like “a blessing in disguise” anymore.