Kansas City Royals GM Picollo: Pasquantino and Pratto getting closer, but not there yet
The logic seems counter-intuitive, at first. But the better the Kansas City Royals’ offense performs, the more likely it is that the front office will consider promoting Triple-A standouts Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto.
For Royals general manager J.J. Picollo, the idea is to not rely on those talented yet inexperienced prospects as cures for a major-league offense.
Instead, the Royals’ preference would be to welcome them to a major-league club that’s performing well enough to make up for and withstand the growing pains of newcomers making the transition to the highest level of baseball.
Speaking with The Star in the dugout at Target Field before the Royals’ Sundays series finale against the Minnesota Twins, Picollo expressed optimism about the way the major-league club had performed in recent days.
He described the type of at-bats they’d been having as “more encouraging.”
At the time Picollo spoke, the Royals ranked second in the American League since May 13 in slugging percentage (.461) and OPS (.795), third in batting average (.274), on-base percentage (.334) and runs per game (5.06) and fourth in home runs (20).
Picollo also explained why that sort of production may be more conducive to adding another young player or two into the mix at some point.
“We just have to keep in mind, we’ve done this for a long time, young players can come up and certainly help an offense,” he said. “But it’s really hard to expect a young player to come up and carry an offense. We don’t want them to feel like they have to carry an offense.”
Bobby Witt Jr.’s example
Picollo then used rookie shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who went into the year a consensus Top 3 prospect in all of baseball, as an example of the effect team struggles can have on a highly touted youngster.
In April (19 games), Witt slashed .216/.247/.311 with six runs scored, five doubles, a triple and five RBIs.
In 25 games since, Witt has slashed .258/.298/.567 with 17 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples, six home runs and 19 RBIs.
“I think that’s something that’s been really impressive with Junior,” Picollo said. “He’s hitting in the (two) hole to start the year. The team’s not going well so he starts shouldering the burden a little bit more than he should. His makeup allowed him to get through that period of time the way he did. Moved him down in the lineup.
“Now, for a lot of reasons, he ends up in the three hole and he looks a lot more comfortable. He looks like what we knew he could look like hitting in that three hole. But early in the year, there’s a young player that’s trying to carry an offense. We don’t want them thinking that way. We just want them to do their part.”
Outstanding start for Pasquantino
So far this season at Triple-A, Pasquantino has batted .303 with a .396 on-base percentage, a .667 slugging percentage, 14 home runs, 14 doubles, two triples and 51 RBIs in 46 games.
Pratto, a left-handed-hitting first baseman/outfielder, has gotten off to a slower start than last season, when he tore up Double-A and earned a mid-season promotion to Triple-A. Through 39 games this season, Pratto has slashed .231/.362/.469 with five doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 27 RBIs.
Last season, the former first-round draft pick (14th overall in 2017) slashed .265/.385/.602 with 36 home runs and 98 RBIs in 124 games (61 at Double-A, 63 at Triple-A). He also earned Double-A Central postseason All-Star honors at first base as well as a Minor League Gold Glove as the top defender at his position from across the 11 full-season leagues.
“The evaluations are very good. Vinnie, in particular, is swinging the bat exceptionally well,” Picollo said. “Nick continues to get better with his at-bats. Vinnie, I was looking at this the other day, he just hit the 150 at-bat mark in Triple-A. He had 200 at-bats in Double-A.
“So when you look at upper level at-bats, he’s had 350 upper level at-bats. That’s not even a season’s worth, over two levels. You’d like to get, really, a full season at the highest level. That’s not set in stone, but generally you’d like to see 500, 550 plate appearances at the highest level.”
Pasquantino, a left-handed-hitting first baseman/designated hitter, began last season at High-A Quad Cities and played just 55 games at Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
“As the at-bats compile, we’ll be able to make a better evaluation of how ready he is,” Picollo said. “What he’s doing right now is outstanding. What Nick is doing right now is outstanding. We still think there’s things that both of them need to work on, not only at Triple-A, but they’ll need to work on in the big leagues too. They’re just on a good track. It’s a good spot for us to be in.”
Dozier likely taking time at first base
The Royals’ primary starting first baseman has been switch-hitting veteran Carlos Santana, who has struggled statistically this season with a .155 batting average and a .295 on-base percentage.
Hunter Dozier has also played first base. If the Royals continue to want to get MJ Melendez playing time in right field, Dozier will likely see more time at first.
Dozier leads the Royals’ regulars in slugging percentage (.456), ranks second in batting average (.281) and on-base percentage (.335) and is third in home runs (five).
“Right now, offensively, we’re doing better at the major-league level,” Picollo said. “Hunter is going to have to play first base. He’s swinging the bat well. We still have Santana. We think he’s swinging the bat better.
“Separate from that, you have two young players that are still getting to the point when we’re going to decide when they’ll be ready. They’re getting there. We just don’t think they’re quite there yet.”
As for the train of thought that players like Pasquantino and Pratto are going to have to face major-league pitching on a regular basis in order to adjust to it, and therefore should start that process as soon as possible, Picollo simply isn’t on board.
“It’s easy to say that, and I get it,” Picollo said. “I understand why fans feel like the time is now. The gap between Triple-A and the big leagues is big. It’s always been big, but it seems to be even bigger.
“There’s going to come a point in time where players are dominating the level to the extent that we have no choice but to bring them up, and now they’ll go through the learning curve here at the major leagues.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City Royals GM Picollo: Pasquantino and Pratto getting closer, but not there yet."
