Royals manager outlines why Vinnie Pasquantino is vital to team success

Kansas City Royals star Vinnie Pasquantino played a starring role in their 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday, which earned him high praise from manager Matt Quatraro. The 27-year-old blasted his third home run of the season on Saturday, helping Kansas City record back-to-back wins over Houston to take the series.

Pasquantino was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 2019 MLB Draft and went on to make his major league debut with them in 2022. After a breakout campaign last season where he hit .262 with 19 home runs and 97 RBIs, Pasquantino has struggled thus far this year. He's hitting just .188 with three homers and 16 RBIs.

After the game, the Royals manager spoke about Pasquantino's improvement over the years and his importance to the team (via MLBNetworkRadio):

"Vinnie is a good hitter. I mean, we're not running from him in any way. If we're doing anything, Vinnie is going to be a huge contributor to that. I have seen more solid contact lately, I've seen better at bats, he's taken a couple of walks which is a good sign for him."

"He's going to drive in runs. We know that, he's done it for a couple of years now. I think he's got such a work ethic and drive to get better, he's not going to leave any stone unturned. So yeah, we're very happy that he hit that ball yesterday... To me, that's a really good sign going forward."

While Mark Canha's sacrifice fly started the scoring for the Royals on Saturday, Vinnie Pasquantino's solo homer in the fifth was enough to secure the win. Meanwhile, pitcher Michael Wacha recorded six scoreless innings to shut out the Astros and record his first win of the season.

Vinnie Pasquantino hails Royals pitching staff after back-to-back shutout wins vs Astros

The Kansas City Royals recorded consecutive shutout wins over the Houston Astros over the weekend to take the series without giving up a single run. After their second victory, infielder Vinnie Pasquantino praised the pitching staff's performance, saying (via Royals Muse):

"Unbelievable. It's crazy to play behind these guys. They just keep grinding out there, it's awesome... They keep putting up low numbers."

Starting pitcher Seth Lugo kicked things off in the first game by recording eight shutout innings to record a 2-0 win on Friday before Michael Wacha put in six scoreless innings to match it the following day.

The Astros went on to record a 7-3 win to take the final game of the series on Sunday, snapping the Royals' six-game win streak.