Royals star says quiet part out loud about KC's current AL Wild Card race

Vinnie Pasquantino is not just smack dab in the middle of a career-best season. He's also emerged as a leader for the Kansas City Royals.

That's why he feels comfortable saying things that other members of the club might not. Including the fact that he's got one eye on the standings and the next game.

Looking ahead is a taboo in sports, but especially in baseball, when one game can simultaneously have such a small impact and a massive one on the season.

The Royals are in trouble when it comes to securing a playoff spot. Wins have come few and far between of late. But they're still in the fight, and a win over Cleveland on Wednesday night gives them an opportunity to build and right some recent wrongs.

Vinnie Pasquantino is paying attention to the Kansas City Royals' playoff standings

After Kansas City's narrow 4-3 comeback victory, the man known as Pasquatch talked about the importance of the win. However, he also spoke about how winning the series and getting the next win for the Kansas City Royals was much bigger. Especially because a win would vault them back over the Guardians in the Wild Card standings.

"I guess I’m not supposed to talk about the standings, but it’s an important game tomorrow," Pasquantino said on Wednesday night. "Try to get ahead of these guys, because they have the [head-to-head] tiebreaker on us."

"Anything we can do to keep them behind us would be great," he said.

Vinnie Pasquantino, who is slashing .262/.322/.466 with 29 home runs and 100 RBI, hopes that he can lead the Kansas City Royals to another win over Cleveland to close out an important four-game series with a salvaging split.

If he manages to do it, they can then take start to take aim at the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners - whom they square off with at home next week - in a tight Wild Card race.