Vincent Joseph Pasquantino (born October 10, 1997) is an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
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 ...
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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.
Amateur career
Pasquantino attended
James River High School in
Midlothian, Virginia. He enrolled at
Old Dominion University and played
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
for the
Old Dominion Monarchs. 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 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 one thousan ...
. He was selected by 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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
in the 11th round of the
2019 Major League Baseball draft
The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player 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 additi ...
.
Professional career
Pasquantino made his professional debut with the
Burlington Royals, batting .294 with 14 home runs and 53
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the bat ...
(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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. He started the 2021 season with the
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, one ...
before being promoted to the
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. The ...
. 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
Omaha Storm Chasers
The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at Wer ...
. After the Royals traded first baseman
Carlos Santana
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...
on June 27, the Royals promoted Pasquantino to the major leagues to take his place on the active roster.
On July 1, 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
starter
Michael Pineda
Michael Francisco Pineda Paulino (born January 18, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers.
...
as his first career hit. He was named the
American League player of the week
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the Player of the Week Award is given weekly during the regular season to two outstanding players, one each in the National League (NL) and American League (AL). The NL first awarded the honor during the season, an ...
for August 8 to 14 when he hit .455 with four home runs and six RBIs in six games.
International career
Pasquantino was on the
Italy national baseball team roster for the
2023 World Baseball Classic
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...
.
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