The Kansas Metropolis Royals not solely blew a late lead of their 6-3 defeat in opposition to the Houston Astros on Thursday night time however might have additionally suffered an enormous blow of their historic push for the AL pennant.
Each power-hitting first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and high-leverage reliever Lucas Erceg have been pressured to go away the staff’s loss within the eighth inning after struggling accidents on the identical play.
The Royals introduced on Friday that it was a near-worst case situation for the 26-year-old “Pasquatch.”
Pasquantino was the No. 3 prospect within the group when he debuted with Kansas Metropolis in June 2022.
After recording 10 dwelling runs and 26 RBI throughout 258 at-bats as a rookie, the slugging lefty was restricted to 61 contests in 2023 as a result of a season-ending shoulder damage suffered in June. Pasquantino has been one of many Royals’ finest hitters this yr, main the staff in RBI with 97 (fourth in MLB) whereas rating second in doubles (30) and walks (40) as properly.
The previous Eleventh-round decide has additionally been among the best defensive gamers at his place within the AL in 2024. Pasquantino leads the junior circuit in fielding share for a primary basemen (.998) and vary issue per contest for the place (calculated by dividing putouts and assists by video games performed) at 8.50.
Whereas there is no phrase but on the severity of Erceg’s damage, any absence would create a severe void in Kansas Metropolis’s bullpen.
The 29-year-old is in his second huge league season and was acquired in a take care of the Oakland Athletics simply forward of the commerce deadline on July 30.
Erceg didn’t permit a run in his first 11 outings with the Royals earlier than faltering the final two contests in opposition to the Cleveland Guardians and Astros on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
After profitable the primary three tilts of a four-contest highway collection in opposition to Cleveland this week, Kansas Metropolis had erased the Guardians’ season-high nine-game lead within the AL Central.
With the back-to-back losses, nonetheless, the Royals have fallen to 1.5 video games behind the first-place membership and are solely two video games forward of the Minnesota Twins for the third wild-card spot.
