The Royals had scored two runs in the eighth inning Monday, coming back to tie a game in Cleveland, and after putting a couple of additional runners on base, the rally had reached its crescendo.
Based loaded. Two outs. The most critical at-bat of the game.
And in stepped ... Carlos Santana.
Wouldn’t you know it, a promising late-game comeback stalled there. The guy with a .164 average over the last 11 months — who has somehow been even worse in clutch situations — did not come through. The bullpen would falter in the bottom half of the inning, and the Royals would lose.
Again.
A day later, like artistic poetry, Royals first base prospect Vinnie Pasquantino was named the Triple-A player of the week for the International League. Pasquantino, the guy you might like to see at the plate in a (purely hypothetical) bases-loaded, two-out situation, last week collected seven extra base-hits and 11 RBIs that literally had no impact on the Royals’ record, which has shrunk to the very worst in baseball entering Tuesday.
This situation has been bubbling for awhile, but if not now, when exactly is the boiling point?
In an exclusive interview with The Star’s Lynn Worthy, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo explained the delay in calling Pasquantino up to make his Major League debut. The Royals don’t want to place him in a situation in which he steps in feeling he must carry an offense. They’d also prefer to see a longer track record than his 350 at-bats across Triple-A and Double-A combined. Last week, I was told they are also having Pasquantino work on a specific pitch and pitch location.
What the Royals are describing, essentially, is the ideal situation for his debut. And, frankly, the Royals should consider the ideal environment for all of their prospects.
But they should also know this: The longer the delay, the worse things are getting at the spot where their success is ultimately judged.
In waiting for the best-case scenario, the Royals are shunning the best-available scenario.
Whether that’s for a few more days, a few more weeks or longer. They all count.
Basically, it comes down to one question: Are the Royals, above all else, prioritizing winning a baseball game on May 30, or are they first prioritizing building an ideal environment for every prospect? You’d like to accomplish both, but there are times in which you are forced to pick a lane. The public messaging has been consistently pointing toward the former. The action, at least at it pertains to first base in Kansas City, suggests the latter.
A call-up actually has the potential to check both boxes. There is a mountain of evidence showing the status quo cannot aid either. Would the Royals win more games with Pasquantino at first base? That’s not a certainty, of course, but I feel quite comfortable saying they would not win fewer.
Pasquantino is hitting .303 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI for Triple-A Omaha. His OPS is 1.063. The Royals say the gap between Triple-A and the majors has never been wider. He might very well struggle upon his arrival. But it would be worthwhile to have Pasquantino endure an extended learning curve now, and then be better off for it next year.
The record is 16-31. If Pasquantino struggles, what has the Major League team got to lose?
Or maybe he doesn’t struggle at all. Maybe, like MJ Melendez, who also was not deemed ready but rather forced into action by injuries, he puts together quality plate appearances. Maybe a collection of young, highly touted prospects like Pasquantino, Melendez and Bobby Witt Jr. provide some life to the very environment the Royals would like to see altered.
It can’t be worse. Santana has had an applaudable career — twice he’s received votes for the AL Most Valuable Player award — but he’s not been a productive hitter for some time. Most notably, he is hitting .164 over 383 at-bats since early July 2021. With runners in scoring position, that drops to .153. He has walked to the plate 117 times with a runner on second or third in the past 11 months, and he has come through just 15 times, with only three extra-base hits.
How could we have possibly expected any other outcome Monday night?
On the surface, there might be monetary reasons to cling to Santana, who is making $10.5 million this season, but you must pay him whether he’s playing baseball for the remainder of the summer in Kansas City, or if he’s playing golf in California or beach volleyball in Florida.
The Royals’ decision-makers are paid to win. And they publicly-stated their belief that they were ready to do so now.
From conversations I’ve had with people in the organization, they do not consider Santana a road block to Pasquantino’s arrival. They insist they will call up Pasquantino when they deem he’s ready to go, and right now they’re referring to him as close but just not there yet.
But even if Santana doesn’t represent a road block to the future, it’s a road block to the present-day goal.
