The Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino Has Been the Soul of Team Italy in WBC Pool Play

Team Italy has been one of the many fantastic stories of the World Baseball Classic.

Despite being seen as an underdog by most outlets and baseball experts, Italy went 4-0 in pool play, with impressive victories over the USA and Mexico on consecutive nights. While the odds are still long for them when it comes to winning the WBC, they may be one of the hottest teams remaining in the field.

One of the biggest forces for Italy has been Vinnie Pasquantino, the Royals' first baseman and Italian team captain. This is Pasquantino's second appearance in the WBC, as he played on the team eliminated in pool play in 2023. 

It made sense that Italy made Pasquantino the team captain for this edition of the WBC.

The "Pasquatch" had a huge season in 2025, hitting .264 with a .798 OPS in 682 plate appearances. In addition to posting a career high in plate appearances with the Royals, he also hit 32 home runs and collected 113 RBI, also career-bests. He only produced a 1.5 fWAR in 2025 due to lackluster baserunning and fielding metrics. However, that didn't stop the Royals from awarding Pasquantino a modest two-year extension this offseason. 

While he hasn't produced much on the fWAR end, Pasquantino is a slugger who provides incredible leadership in the clubhouse. Thus, Italy made him the captain because of those two factors, and their decision has paid off tremendously, as demonstrated by Italy's strong performance in pool play. 

With Italy moving on to the knockout stage of the WBC, let's examine the impact Pasquantino has had for Team Italy on the field and in the clubhouse, especially on Wednesday night, as he made WBC history. 

Pasquantino's Historic Night Against Mexico

Coming into Wednesday's "elimination" game against Mexico, Pasquantino had not collected a single hit for Italy. He also had a slow start in Spring Training in Arizona. In six games and 17 plate appearances in Cactus League play, he was slashing .200/.294/.267 with one double, an RBI, two walks, and four strikeouts.

His combined Cactus League/WBC stats have been rough. Entering Wednesday night's game, he had a .121 average and .491 OPS in 38 plate appearances. Furthermore, his Statcast percentiles this spring weren't all that impressive, as shown below by TJ Stats. 

However, on Wednesday, the Italian captain broke out in a big way.

Pasquantino went 3-for-4 with three home runs and three RBI in the 9-1 victory. As Jeff Passan noted on Twitter, Pasquantino is the first player in WBC history to hit three home runs in a single game.

Vinnie's home runs went a distance of 342, 349, and 337, respectively, and also had exit velocities of 101.8 MPH, 95.3 MPH, and 90.9 MPH. Here's a look at the spray chart of his three home runs in Houston, and notice how Vinnie not just pulled them, but took advantage of Daikin Park's lefty-friendly (and hitter-friendly in general) dimensions.

Not only did Pasquantino hit three home runs, but he also downed three espresso shots during the game. The espresso shot has been a tradition for Italian players after a home run, and the Italian captain partook in the tradition and then some on Wednesday night after mostly distributing espresso shots to his teammates in the first three games in pool play.

Pasquantino has traditionally been known to be a slow starter at the plate. Last season, he hit .177 with a 49 wRC+ in 124 plate appearances in March/April, according to Fangraphs splits. That said, he was fine for the remainder of the year, as evidenced by his 116 wRC+ in 2025. It was the same story in 2024 to a degree. His 96 wRC+ in March/April was the worst monthly wRC+ of the 2024 season (his overall wRC+ was 109). 

Perhaps the World Baseball Classic has allowed Pasquantino to knock off the rust earlier in the spring (he has more at-bats to go in the knockout round, as they play Puerto Rico in the first round). Hopefully, with this experience and historic surge at the plate, he will be more ready to produce in the first month of play for the Royals, which would be atypical of his career norms.

Pasquantino's Impact in the Italian Clubhouse

Vinnie has definitely made his presence known in the WBC thanks to his big three-homer performance on Wednesday. That said, before that game, he was still making a tremendous impact on the squad, even if he wasn't producing at the plate. 

Italian shortstop Sam Antonacci was interviewed after Italy's upset win over the USA, when a reporter asked who the "Team MVP" was. Here's the quote, as shared from MLB.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers.

Antonacci mentioned several characteristics that Royals fans have been quite accustomed to seeing with Pasquantino: "made us all feel comfortable," "he's the reason we're so tight," and "he's a great leader." 

It can be easy to overlook Pasquantino's impact in the Royals clubhouse sometimes. After all, Bobby Witt Jr. is the superstar of the franchise, and Salvador Perez is the captain and longest-tenured player. When it comes to the favorite player or "face of the franchise", those two are often selected for those honors. 

And yet, there's an ease Pasquantino brings to any clubhouse. Since Vinnie returned from injury in 2024, they have had a winning record each season, with a playoff berth in 2024. Now, we're seeing the same intangibles from Vinnie having an immediate impact with Team Italy. Not only did they win their pool, but they beat two of the best teams in the WBC in the process. 

It also seems like Pasquantino has had a strong impact on Royals teammate Jac Caglianone. The 2024 Royals first-round pick hit .375 with a 1.458 OPS in pool play and absolutely crushed a huge home run against Team USA pitcher Ryan Yarbrough, a huge momentum booster at the time for Team Italy in the fourth inning. 

Obviously, Pasquantino is not swinging the bat for Caglianone. However, he's been a familiar face who has hyped up the promising Royals slugger during these first four games. With renewed confidence and sensational tools, Caglianone could be due for a breakout season in Kansas City in 2026.

What Does This Mean for the Royals?

The Royals haven't exactly been all that sharp in Spring Training. After split-squad losses to the Cubs and Giants, Kansas City is 6-12, the second-worst record in Cactus League play (only the Mariners are worse at 5-13). That said, Royals fans have seen the team produce Cactus League championships, only for those results to fail to translate to the regular season.

Granted, the poor record could be credited to so many of their key players participating in the WBC. Right now, the Royals' lineup has consisted of players like Brandon Drury, Kevin Newman, and Connor Kaiser at the top of the lineup, which isn't exactly "dangerous" by any means. Safe to say, none of those three will be major factors on the Kansas City roster in 2026. 

However, the experience the Royals have gotten in the WBC cannot be understated, especially for a player like Vinnie. Italy's run to the WBC has allowed Pasquantino not only to gain more competitive at-bats but also to develop his leadership ability and voice during this period of play. That will only help the Royals in 2026, especially as they look to return to the postseason after missing out a year ago. 

Pasquantino is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to positive WBC development stories. Cags showed great plate patience in the last two games after being too free-swinging in his WBC debut. Witt has demonstrated that he may be Kansas City's solution at leadoff this season. Maikel Garcia had a four-hit game against a loaded Dominican Republic team.

The WBC has been a positive and formative experience for the Royals players. And this experience will only benefit the Royals once the regular season starts on March 27th. Michael Wacha, who returned from the WBC this week, seemed to confirm that thought as well, according to Rogers. 

Perhaps Vinnie can bring the "espresso" home run celebration to the Royals clubhouse when he returns to the squad, just to add to these vibes for the Boys in Blue in the upcoming season.