{"id":2235625,"date":"2026-01-15T06:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2235625"},"modified":"2026-01-15T06:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:37:01","slug":"royals-vinnie-pasquantino-makes-career-announcement-on-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-vinnie-pasquantino-makes-career-announcement-on-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals&#8217; Vinnie Pasquantino Makes Career Announcement on Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/kansas-city-royals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kansas City Royals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kansas City Royals<\/a> have one of the best infields in the league, and among its most underrated pieces is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/10-greatest-first-basemen-major-league-baseball-history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:first baseman;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">first baseman<\/a> Vinnie Pasquantino, who has quickly become a fan favorite in Kansas City thanks to his personality and presence.<\/p>\n<p>As he prepares for his fifth season with the Royals since debuting in 2022, the 28\u2011year\u2011old left\u2011handed slugger is aiming to build on a breakout 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Last year marked a personal milestone, as he finally put durability and injury concerns behind him by playing a career\u2011high 160 games. He posted a .264 batting average, .323 on\u2011base percentage, .798 OPS, 32 home runs and 113 RBIs, solidifying himself as an offensive weapon.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Kansas City Royals designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino (9) \u00a9 Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many of Pasquantino\u2019s teammates have elected to participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, scheduled to take place in March just ahead of the 2026 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MLB<\/a> season.<\/p>\n<p>Those teammates include superstar shortstop <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/tag\/bobby-witt-jr\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bobby Witt Jr.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Bobby Witt Jr.<\/a>, who will suit up for Team USA, and All\u2011Star catcher Salvador Perez, who will captain Team Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Pasquantino announced on Instagram that he too will join the international tournament, committing to play for Team Italy. \u201c@pasquantino will be competing for Team Italy in the 2026 @wbcbaseball #Pasquatch,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n<section class=\"consent\"\/>\n<p>Royals players\u2019 participation will not affect their availability for Opening Day, and the tournament will provide valuable experience against elite international competition, preparing them for the challenge of big\u2011league pitching in the months ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Although Pasquantino was born in the United States, his Italian heritage through his father makes him eligible to represent Team Italy in the WBC.<\/p>\n<p>Drafted in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, he quickly outperformed his draft stock in the minor leagues with advanced plate discipline and steadily improving power, earning his promotion to Kansas City in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Pasquantino remains under team control for three more years and is scheduled to reach free agency in 2029, though the Royals may look to extend him before then, as they have with Witt and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/10-greatest-third-basemen-major-league-baseball-history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:third baseman;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">third baseman<\/a> Maikel Garcia. His combination of personality, leadership and offensive production makes him a key piece for Kansas City\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/royals-cole-ragans-announces-personal-012841977.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Related: Royals' Cole Ragans Announces Personal News Amid MLB Offseason;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Related: Royals&#8217; Cole Ragans Announces Personal News Amid MLB Offseason<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>This story was originally published by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/kansas-city-royals\/royals-vinnie-pasquantino-career-decision-2026-mlb-season-world-baseball-classic\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Athlon Sports;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jan 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=athlonsports.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Preferred Source by clicking here.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Royals have one of the best infields in the league, and among its most underrated pieces is first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who has quickly become a fan favorite in Kansas City thanks to his personality and presence. As he prepares for his fifth season with the Royals since debuting in 2022, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2235626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[91466,310650,43627,313842,265640,77699,432538,102808],"class_list":["post-2235625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-bobby-witt-jr","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-maikel-garcia","tag-pasquantino","tag-salvador-perez","tag-team-italy","tag-vinnie-pasquantino"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Royals-Vinnie-Pasquantino-Makes-Career-Announcement-on-Wednesday.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2235625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2235627,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235625\/revisions\/2235627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2235626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2235625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2235625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2235625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}