The year 2023 has been full of bad news for the Royals. There was another blow on Wednesday. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino needs surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will miss the rest of the season. The team announced the news Wednesday afternoon.
Pasquantino, 25, is one of the Royals' more talented hitters, so prospects for turning this season around took another blow with this news. He'll end the season, his second in the majors, with 61 games played. He hit .247/.324/.437 (109 OPS+) with 17 doubles, nine homers, 26 RBI, 24 runs, but accounted for 0.0 WAR.
Worse still, on an individual level, Pasquantino misses out on more than a half season of development. He only played in 71 games last season as a rookie. Even in a lost season, the Royals need to see development from younger players like Pasquantino who could be foundational players for the next contender.
And, boy, is it ever a lost season in K.C.
By virtue of the A's putting together an inexplicable seven-game winning streak along with the Royals' season-long futility, the Royals now sport the worst record in Major League Baseball at 18-49. Entering Wednesday night, they've lost eight in a row and 11 of their last 12 games.
Should the Royals continue their current pace of wins and losses, they'd end up 44-118. That would shatter the franchise-worst mark of 106 losses (2005) and would only mark the seventh 100-plus loss season in club history. In fact, it would be one of the worst records Major League Baseball has seen in decades. In the integration era, the only teams that lost at least 115 games are the 2018 Orioles (47-115 final record), 2003 Tigers (43-119) and 1962 Mets (40-120).
It should also be noted that even with the recent winning streak, the A's are on pace to go 45-117.
More basically: We're looking at two of the worst teams in baseball history. On the Royals' end, the Pasquantino news only makes matters worse.
