Vincent Joseph Pasquantino (born October 10, 1997), nicknamed "Pasquatch," is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Pasquantino attended James River High School in

Midlothian, Virginia Midlothian ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated area and census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S. Settled as a coal town, Midlothian village experienced suburbanization effects and is now part of t ...

. In 2016, he enrolled at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Old Dominion Monarchs The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, s ...

. In 2018, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Hyannis Harbor Hawks The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. After his junior season at Old Dominion, he was selected by the

in the 11th round of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

Professional career

Minor leagues

Pasquantino made his professional debut in 2019 with the Rookie-level

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington ...

, batting .294 with 14 home runs and 53

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs) over 57 games. He did not play in 2020 because the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He started the 2021 season with the Single-A

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

before being promoted to the Double-A

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. T ...

. Over 116 games between the two teams, he slashed .300/.394/.563 with 24 home runs, 84 RBIs, and 37 doubles. Pasquantino opened the 2022 season with the Triple-A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

. After the Royals traded first baseman

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

on June 27, Pasquantino was promoted to the active roster.

Major leagues

2022

On July 1, 2022, Pasquantino hit a home run off of

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

starter Michael Pineda for his first career major league hit. He hit his second career homer on July 11, coincidentally also off of Pineda. He was named the American League Player of the Week for August 8 to 14 when he hit .455 with four home runs and six RBIs in six games.

2023

Pasquantino made the

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster for Kansas City in 2023. Playing in 61 games, he hit .247/.324/.437 with 9 home runs and 26 RBI. The Royals organization started a continuing tradition of having a team employee dressed in a

bigfoot Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

or sasquatch costume walk across the roof of the team hall of fame in left field each time Pasquantino reaches base; Pasquantino was not told by the team of the stunt beforehand, only learning of it when a friend sent him a link to a tweet containing a clip of the event. Pasquantino has embraced it, along with his nickname of "Pasquatch," wearing a gold sasquatch necklace. The Royals have also arranged promotional Pasquatch-themed giveaways such as necklaces and small figurines. On June 14, 2023, it was announced that Pasquantino would undergo season–ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

2024

Pasquantino began the 2024 season as the Royals' starting first baseman. During a game versus the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

on August 29, Pasquantino suffered a broken right thumb when Astros catcher Yainer Diaz ran into his outstretched hand as he attempted to field a throw from pitcher Lucas Erceg. He underwent surgery which ended his regular season. He played in 131 regular season games in 2024, slashing a combined .262/.315/.446 with 19 home runs, and 97 RBIs. By the fall, Pasquantino's injury had healed to the point where the Royals added him to their postseason roster on October 1, for their Wild Card round matchup against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. Playing in two games, he batted .286 with two hits and one RBI, also drawing two walks. With Pasquantino's input, the team introduced the "Pasqwich," an

Italian beef An Italian beef is a sandwich of American origin, originating in Chicago, made from thin slices of roast beef simmered and served with a thin gravy on French bread. Common toppings are a choice between spicy giardiniera (called "hot") or mild ...

sandwich with

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

hash brown Hash browns, also spelled hashed browns and hashbrowns, are a List of American breakfast foods, popular American breakfast food consisting of finely Julienning, julienned potatoes that have been fried until golden Food browning, brown. Hash brown ...

patties, and

provolone Provolone (, ) is an Italian semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk. It is an aged ''pasta filata'' ('stretched-curd') cheese originating in the Campania region, near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. P ...

cheese on a

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

bun with a

giardiniera ''Giardiniera'' (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian relish of pickling, pickled vegetables in vinegar or cooking oil, oil. Varieties and uses Italian ''giardiniera'' is also called ''sottaceti'' (), a common term for pickled foods. It is typi ...

aioli, sold at "Pasquantino's," a themed

food cart A food cart is a mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell street food to passers-by. Food carts are often found in cities worldwide selling food of every kind. Food carts come in two basic styles. One allows the vendor to sit ...

inside the stadium. The cart continued for the 2025 season.

2025

Paquantino began the 2025 season as the Royals' starting first baseman. On June 5, 2025, Pasquantino matched a career high with four hits in the first game of a doubleheader at the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. Between June 2-8, he went 13-for-26 with a double, 2 home runs, and 7 RBI in 7 games, being named the American League Player of the Week for that span.

International career

Pasquantino is of Italian descent, choosing to represent his ancestors' home country as part of the Italian national baseball team for both the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2026 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Bulgaria is expected to adopt the euro and become the 21st member state of the eurozone. * January 6 – The 2025 Jubilee will end on this day. * February 5 – The New START Treat ...

editions of the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

Personal life

Pasquantino and Ryann Harris announced their engagement in September 2022. Like Pasquantino, Harris attended

, where she played for the women's soccer team. The two married in December 2023.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasquantino, Vinnie Living people 1997 births American people of Italian descent Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Burlington Royals players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball first basemen Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Old Dominion Monarchs baseball players Omaha Storm Chasers players Quad Cities River Bandits players Tigres del Licey players 2023 World Baseball Classic players