Royals appear to be on verge of injury return that could change landscape of entire lineup

After a rough stretch at the plate prior to their 31-run outburst over two games on Monday on Tuesday, the Kansas City Royals sank back into their usual woes on Wednesday after scoring just two runs in their 6-2 loss in Queens against the Mets. The fact of the matter is, the Royals offense may look better than it did in their disappointing 2025 season, but they’re still well within the bottom-half of MLB in runs scored (19th at 402) and wRC+ (T-20th at 97).

Injuries have certainly played a role in their misfortune, but even if their season might be all but over with one of the American League’s worst records this season, they could always stand to look more palatable as opposed to just completely phoning it in. And the hopeful return of Vinnie Pasquantino from the injured list could acheive just that.

According to Royals broadcaster Joel Goldberg, Pasquantino could be on the verge of returning to the heart of the Royals’ order a lot sooner than some might’ve expected.

“Matt Quatraro says Vinnie Pasquantino has one more rehab start tonight and suggested he could return as soon as tomorrow in Baltimore,” Goldberg wrote on X on Thursday.

After being placed on the IL in the middle of June after undergoing an operation for a broken hamate bone, the Pasquatch has been on a rehab assignment the past few days in Triple-A Omaha. While he still has one more game to go, Pasquantino has looked good in his tune-up so far through two games, hitting .333 with an .889 OPS, 33.3% walk rate, no strikeouts and a 141 wRC+.

Pasquantino could provide Royals much needed lineup protection in top half of order

As our Jacob Milham pointed out recently, the Royals have been a beneficiary of lineup protection this season. Carter Jensen is the prime example of this, as the rookie looks like a whole new hitter atop the Royals lineup hitting in front of Bobby Witt Jr.

Milham also made the argument that perhaps Caglianone could stand to improve if he were given the same treatment as Jensen.

“Against right-handed pitching, the hitter directly behind Caglianone is Lane Thomas, who is slashing .211/.327/.333 with five home runs,” Milham wrote on June 30. “Against left-handers, the cleanup spot belongs to Salvador Perez, who is hitting .200/.242/.331 at age 36.”

“Neither qualifies as the kind of on-deck presence that forces a pitcher to challenge the batter in front of them,” he also wrote.

Perhaps Pasquantino could provide that for Caglianone. While the young slugger looked strong from the end of May to the end of June, from June 24 onwards, he’s fallen into somewhat of a slump. In his last 12 games entering Thursday’s series finale against the Mets, Caglianone is slashing just .160/.173/.240 with a 32.7% K-rate and measly 3 wRC+.

He’s proven he’s capable of hitting in the three-hole despite his recent struggles – and perhaps a recent three-game hit streak and two-game multi-hit streak could see him coming out of it – so there’s reason to believe he should stay batting third rather than give the spot back to Pasquantino.

Before he hit the IL, Pasquantino appeared to have put his slow start behind him. Since May 22, he had slashed .291/.378/.405 with a 12.2% walk rate, just an 11.1% K-rate and a 116 wRC+. Paired with a career year in 2025 with 32 home runs, 113 RBI and a 116 wRC+, he’s possesses the strong profile that should be placed behind Caglianone to force pitchers to challenge him more often.

Only time will tell how Quatraro plans to use Pasquantino when returns and whether or not Friday is the day when he graces the Royals lineup with his presence again. However, the stats have proven where he seems to be best suited when that return comes.