The Royals have placed first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino on the 10-day injured list with a right hamate fracture, per a team announcement. Outfielder John Rave is being recalled in a corresponding active roster move.
Pasquantino suffered the injury in the fifth inning of yesterday’s 8-7 loss to the Astros. Facing Houston’s Mike Burrows, Pasquantino swung at an inside pitch and popped out to third base. He immediately grimaced after the swing and ultimately left the game (video courtesy of MLB.com). Jac Caglianone slide from right field to first base, and Isaac Collins took Pasquantino’s spot in the lineup, playing left field.
The hamate fracture is the same injury suffered by the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers and more recently the Guardians’ José Ramírez. The Royals have not yet announced a timeline on Pasquantino, but as noted by MLBTR’s Steve Adams, hamate fractures tend to sideline players for four to five weeks. Jeffers landed on the IL on May 19th and is expected back in July, per the Twins’ official injury report. Others like Corbin Carroll and Francisco Lindor returned within the expected time frame, while the Orioles’ Jackson Holliday took about three months after experiencing setbacks.
At a minimum, Pasquantino will be out of action through the All-Star break. That will leave the Royals without a key player, albeit one who has struggled in 2026. Pasquantino has so far batted .224/.309/.350 in 291 plate appearances, which is 19% below average by wRC+. That’s a far cry from last year, when Pasquantino was 16% above average, and it’s easily the worst mark of his career. Adding in his subpar defense, the 28-year-old has been below replacement level this year.
Pasquantino’s drop in hard contact is the biggest culprit for his downturn at the plate. He had a 44.7% hard-hit rate last year, but that’s fallen to 37.7% in 2026, which ranks in the 34th percentile according to Statcast. Pasquantino is also running a career-low 88.5 MPH average exit velocity. There’s some evidence that he’s gotten unlucky, as Pasquantino’s .350 slugging percentage lags behind his .394 expected slugging. However, even the latter mark would be a career low, so the reality is that Pasquantino is both unlucky and a lesser hitter this year.
For now, the Royals will probably go with the alignment they used last night after Pasquantino’s exit: Caglianone at first base, then Collins and Lane Thomas in the outfield corners. Caglianone has rarely played first base in the Majors, though he played 516 innings there in the minors from 2024-25. Caglianone is hitting very well this year (118 wRC+), so he can get by if he’s even a passable defender. Offensively, the net result of Pasquantino’s injury is swapping him out for more of Thomas. The latter’s 99 wRC+ is technically below average but still exceeds Pasquantino’s output this year.
In the meantime, Rave gets called up to fill in as a backup outfielder. Rave, a fifth-round draft pick by Kansas City in 2019, debuted last year and batted .196/.283/.307 in 175 plate appearances, which amounted to a 65 wRC+. In contrast, he’s batted .278/.395/.475 with a 126 wRC+ at Triple-A this year, his third straight season of above-average output at that level. Rave has two option years remaining and will probably get sent down when Pasquantino returns.
Photo courtesy of Denny Medley, Imagn Images
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