Royals News: Vinnie Pasquantino update, Carlos Estévez status, Randal Grichuk DFA

The Kansas City Royals have been rolling of late after experiencing what could easily be considered the lowest of the lows. Before winning their last four games in a row, the Royals dropped 12 of 15 contests, including a brutal eight game losing streak that left the fanbase in shambles. But even with all the positives to take out of the Royals moving to within 2.5 games of top spot in the AL Central, there's been their fair share of tough breaks mixed in.

After already entering the game with the unwelcome injury news of Jonathan India undergoing season-ending injury, the Royals received a scare mid-game in their series opening victory over the Athletics, as Vinnie Pasquantino was pulled early with what the team later called "low back tightness".

However, much like Maikel Garcia's recent injury that saw him hit sit for just their weekend series and return on Tuesday, it doesn't appear that Pasquantino is heading to the IL according to GM J.J. Picollo. According to Cody Tapp of 96.5 The Fan on Wednesday, Picollo said that the Pasquatch is day-to-day and "he does not expect any IL trip" for the first baseman.

This should come as music to Royals fans' ears, as Pasquantino has started to put his very slow start behind him during this four game win streak, slashing .364/.556/1.000 with a 33.3% walk rate and 273 wRC+ in that span.

Carlos Estévez could be on his way to returning to his old self

Sticking on the injury train, Picollo also provided an update on former closer Carlos Estévez, who's been recovering from an early season foot contusion, when speaking with Tapp.

Estévez's recovery process has seen him put in work down in Arizona. As a result, as he attempts to build his way back up, Picollo offered some encouraging insight into how Estévez's stuff is looking, which was a major area of concern entering the season, saying "[his] velocity was up closer to what it needed to be".

While no definitive timetable was given for his return, Tapp did report that Estévez would be throwing to live hitters again this week with the next step in the return process being a formal rehab assignment.

Estévez getting back to an arm closer to the form he was during his 2025 MLB saves leading season would be ideal for this bullpen, even if he isn't the closer moving forward. While Erceg has assumed that aforementioned closer's role for the Royals this year, as a unit they still sit 28th in baseball in ERA at 5.46.

Yankees DFA former Royals outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment

Rounding things off with an old friend, the New York Yankees made some roster decisions on Wednesday, one of which was designating former Royals veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment.

After landing in the Bronx on a minor league contract during spring training, Grichuk was surprisingly picked to break camp with the Yankees after hitting just .125 with a .484 OPS and 19 wRC+ in nine Grapefruit League games. This was also off the back of a combined 82 wRC+ and -0.4 fWAR season with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Royals last season. The Royals' side of things was the most recent and worst of the sides, as he posted just a .566 OPS and 56 wRC+, with them making him nothing short of a trade deadline disaster.

And that disastrous form carried over in the 2026 season in his brief stint in Yankee pinstripes, as the 34-year-old slashed just .194/.212/.323 with only a pair of RBI, a 30.3% K-rate and 41 wRC+ in 33 plate appearances.

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