Thursday night at Minute Maid Park, the Kansas City Royals not only lost to the Houston Astros (HOU 6, KC 3) but also saw two key players get injured.
Lucas Erceg and Vinnie Pasquantino both hurt their hands during the same play in the eighth inning. On Friday, it was confirmed that Pasquantino has a broken thumb and won’t be back for the rest of the regular season.
The Royals shared on Twitter:
Vinnie Pasquantino has a broken right thumb, and further tests are scheduled today. He could return in six to eight weeks.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals)
Impact of Injuries:
Pasquantino’s injury means he might come back for the playoffs if everything goes well. The earliest he could return is during the Division Series, but it’s possible he might be out longer. The team hasn’t given an update on Erceg yet.
Both injuries happened when Erceg tried to field Yainer Diaz’s hard-hit ball with his bare hand. Pasquantino got hurt when trying to catch a throw at first base that pulled him into the runner’s path . Erceg injured his pitching hand while Pasquantino broke his glove hand thumb.
Pasquantino has been vital for Kansas City this season, batting third between Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. He’s hitting .262/.315/.446 with 30 doubles, 16 home runs, and 97 RBIs—fourth most in baseball behind Aaron Judge (123), José RamÃrez (104), and Marcell Ozuna (98). With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting an impressive .360.
Nick Pratto seems like a good choice to replace Pasquantino at first base even though he hasn’t played since August 18 due to a possible injury. Another option is moving Perez to first base full-time while putting Freddy Fermin behind the plate and calling up Austin Nola as a third catcher.
Fans might think these injuries are really bad news for the Royals’ playoff hopes.
Perez has already started at first base 31 times this season so it wouldn’t be new for him. Fermin has also been one of their best hitters recently while playing DH regularly. The team might make a waiver claim before Saturday’s deadline to add another bat; Tommy Pham is one possibility.
Erceg joined from Oakland Athletics at the trade deadline and has been great since then despite giving up three runs on Thursday night. His ERA stands at 2.63 over 13⅔ innings with Kansas City where he struck out sixteen batters across various innings based on matchups—a very effective reliever indeed!
Losing both Erceg and Pasquantino would be huge setbacks as they’ve been crucial during their recent successful run of being just 1½ games behind Cleveland Guardians after trailing by ten games earlier this year! They face off against them next week in Kansas City too!
The series against Astros continues Friday night featuring Seth Lugo (14-8 record; ERA:3:19) versus Framber Valdez (13-6 record; ERA:3:27).
What do you think about these injuries?
