Royals Star Slugger Undergoes Successful Surgery, Eyes Postseason Return
Needless to say, it's been a tough week for the Kansas City Royals.
There's been a lot of losing--six in a row, to be precise. There's also been a lot of turnover, as the roster was decimated by injuries, then quickly restocked with veterans hauled in from other teams.
Without a doubt, the most impactful injury was to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, the team's RBI leader as of Thursday night, when he went down with a broken thumb. Pasquantino is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, leaving his status for the playoffs, if the Royals make it that far, in doubt.
But although Pasquantino was dealt a tough blow, he's not giving up hope on rejoining the Royals sometime in October. And he cleared his first recovery hurdle on Tuesday.
According to Royals beat reporter Anne Rogers of MLB.com, Pasquantino underwent successful thumb surgery on Tuesday, ticking off the first of many boxes in his pursuit to return to the lineup before Kansas City's season is decided one way or the other.
"All went well, acting manager Paul Hoover said," Rogers posted on X.
The surgery was performed the day after Pasquantino addressed the injury for the first time
“We’re just going to attack it and try to get it as strong as we can and see what happens from there. But in my mind, my season’s not over. Whether that’s realistic or not, I don’t know," Pasquantino said Monday.
In other Royals personnel updates, outfielder Hunter Renfroe is close to returning, though he may still need a rehab stint, and first baseman Yuli Gurriel hopes to be available to pinch-hit tonight, per Rogers.
The Royals will certainly need role players like Renfroe and Gurriel to step up the rest of the way if they want to get right before the playoffs. In fact, if they keep losing like this, the Royals may not be headed to the playoffs at all.
But having the prospect of arriving in October with a healthy Pasquantino ready to energize the lineup is a tantalizing possibility. Only time will tell whether things will break the Royals' way.
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JACKSON ROBERTS
Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org