KC Royals need a lot more right now from Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez

For the fourth consecutive night the Kansas City Royals found themselves in a losing situation and for the ninth time in their last 10, they've ended the night scoring three or less runs.

The offense is struggling, which is news to no one. But at 8-12 now, with the team showing little or no reason to think that improvement is imminent, many Royals fans are looking to point fingers as to who's to blame.

While it's easy to look at the names at the bottom of the order who haven't come close to being serviceable major leaguers like MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe, or struggling new names like Jonathan India, at the end of the day they haven't been the ones that Kansas City has relied upon for over a season now.

Those names lie within the heart of the order in Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. Witt has certainly played his role and lived up to lofty MVP expectations bestowed upon him, with a .307/.384/.493 slash line. However, his two fellow crucial lineup members have yet to fulfill their end of the bargain.

KC Royals need better from Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez

While Witt has been doing his part to create run-scoring opportunities for his usually reliable top-half lineup-mates, they've ended up squandering more opportunities than they've capitalized on.

Pasquantino is slashing just .188/.269/.333 to start the season, while the veteran backstop in Perez has only mustered a .200/.259/.320 slash line. These are stark differences from their 2024 season outputs, where Pasquantino slugged 19 homers, 97 RBI while hitting .262 with a .760 OPS, and Perez managed 27 HR, 104 RBI while hitting .271 with a .786 OPS.

Pasquantino has been all but invisible this week with just a single hit and two walks, and for the season he's never strung together more than a two-game hit streak. And Perez has not managed to put together a multi-hit night in his last 11 games. Both scenarios here are polar opposites to Witt's current 10-game hit streak, as well as the fact he's managed to hit safely in all but two contests this season.

Looking beyond the success that both Pasquantino and Perez had last year, while also putting their current struggles aside, we've seen glimpses of what this lineup can produce when they contribute this season.

Take the April 4 game against the Baltimore Orioles as an example. Witt singled in the opening frame only to be promptly scored two batters later by an RBI-double from Perez. Then, fast-forward to the ninth, when the Royals really started to pour it on and with the bases loaded, Pasquantino came up and ripped a bases clearing knock.

Now that's just one example, but look at tonight against the Tigers even. Despite not much going the Royals way, the eighth inning saw Perez produce a good plate appearance and draw a walk, which later led to him scoring the only Royals run of the night.

Then, looking at things on the contrary, India and Witt led off the top of the first with a single and walk, before Pasquantino and Perez were each retired on fly-outs. That was followed by a fifth inning showing from the struggling duo where they each squandered a chance to drive home Witt after his one out double.

The at-bats these two are putting together at the moment aren't representative of the elite run producers they were just a season ago, that also happened to play a huge role in why Witt ranked within the top three in runs scored.

This lineup wasn't all that spectacular in 2024, ranking 13th in runs scored in MLB, but when you have a trio at the top of the order as strong as they had, the winning tends to come easier. Now we're seeing what happens when that trio turns into a single-entity, as suddenly the vulnerabilities of the rest of the lineup are brought into the light.

This offense in 2024 wasn't your traditional postseason offense, but they found a way to make it work. If Pasquantino and Perez can't replicate that production though, then this lineup will simply start and stop with Bobby Witt Jr., and regardless of how special a talent he might be, every hero needs a sidekick.