Salvador Perez, Vinnie Pasquantino problems have Royals fans’ frustrations boiling over

The Kansas City Royals are 7-9 this season and have largely left fans wanting more this season. While the pitching staff may be getting a major boost from their elite looking starting rotation at the moment, the offense is the one thing that fans are pointing fingers at. And rightfully so, the Royals’ 3.38 runs per game sit tied for 27th in MLB and there’s been some key culprits particularly responsible for bringing them down.

In the heart of the order, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez have looked like a shell of themselves at the plate. And fans are already taking notice, voicing their frustrations with how unreliable and flat-out terrible their the veteran duo have looked to start the year.

And it’s not as if this is fan overreaction, Pasquantino and Perez have statistically been two of the worst hitters among the 13 Royals position players with 10 or more plate appearances in the early going. Whether it be bat to ball, power metrics or getting on base, the duo look far from the form that made them Silver Slugger finalists just a year ago.

It’s not as if the two of them are just underperforming in the eyes of the Royals sphere either. Many of their expected metrics are among some of the worst in all of baseball. This spells a poor picture for the hope of an improvement coming.

It may be time for the Royals to consider some lineup changes

With Pasquantino and Perez both hitting in such an important part of the lineup to this point, it’s becoming clear their holding the rest of the order back.

Maikel Garcia has had no issues acclimating to his leadoff role, hitting .306 with an .864 OPS and 147 wRC+. Then, Witt in the two-hole has started climb out of his funk and become more of the elite hitter Royals fans know and love, jumping from a 65 wRC+ to 98 wRC+ in the span of a week.

In the case of Witt in particular, Kings of Kauffman’s own Andrew Banks pointed out on X this weekend, how Witt in the two-spot could miss out on opportunities if Pasquantino is providing nothing behind him.

“[I don’t know] why anyone would pitch to Bobby when Vinnie is behind him,” Banks wrote. “That’s our three-hitter.”

It’s not as if the Royals don’t have hitters hitting below Pasquantino and Perez that they could spice up the top of this lineup with.

Carter Jensen is the prime example of someone who’s found his rhythm and is becoming a premium run producer for this team to help cash on Garcia and Witt finding their way on base. He leads or co-leads the team in homers and RBI this season and is sitting top three in SLG, OPS and wRC+.

I understand manager Matt Quatraro sticking by his guys and trusting their track records. But even the best hitters could do with hitting in some lower leverage spots to get their mojo back when it seems all but lost.

The season is still young and there’s reason to believe the Royals can’t bounce back. But standing pat and relying on the status quo with names like Pasquantino and Perez who are noticeably struggling isn’t going to anybody any good and won’t get them to that point of contention any sooner.