Kansas City Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Major League Baseball announced today that Vinnie Pasquantino has been named American League Player of the week for the period of Aug. 8-14. During that time, the Royals infielder posted a .455/.500/1.045 (10-for-22) slashline and amassed an American League-best 4 home runs, 1 double, 6 RBI and 2 walks, while striking out just once and hitting safely in each of his 6 games, setting a career-long hitting streak that remains active into tonight. In the same span, he also led all American League hitters with a 1.045 slugging percentage and 23 total bases. while his 10 hits tied for the American League lead with Seattle’s Mitch Haniger and Chicago’s Eloy Jiménez.
This marks Pasquantino’s first AL Player of the Week Award, and it’s the first by a Royals player since Andrew Benintendi took home the honors for Sept. 6-12, 2021. He becomes the first Kansas City rookie to earn the award since Mike Aviles won co-Player of the Week honors for the week of July 28-Aug. 3, 2008.
Pasquantino’s week began with a doubleheader vs. the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, in which he became the 13th Royal (17th instance) to homer in both games of a doubleheader, and the first to turn the trick since Whit Merrifield on Aug. 6, 2017 vs. Seattle. His week included a pair of game-winning RBI, including Game 1 of the aforementioned doubleheader when his 2-run home run off Lance Lynn was the decisive blow, and again two days later when his 2nd inning, solo home run against White Sox ace Dylan Cease gave the Royals a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Pasquantino, 24, finished his Player of the Week campaign by guiding the Royals offensively to a 4-0 shutout of the Majors’ best Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday afternoon, recording a career-high-tying 3 hits, including an RBI single in the 3rd inning, a leadoff double in the 6th and a solo home run off Major League Baseball’s active saves leader Craig Kimbrel in the 8th.
Along with his American League highs in home runs, slugging percentage, total bases, isolated power (.591), extra-base hits (5, T-1st) and hits (T-1st) last week, Pasquantino ranked second among American League players (min. 20 PA) in batting average and OPS (1.545), while also ranking in strikeouts (T-3rd fewest), runs scored (6, T-4th), RBI (T-4th) and on-base percentage (5th).
The left-handed infielder was selected by the Royals in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Old Dominion University (Va.) and made his Major League debut on June 28 vs. Texas.