Vinnie Pasquantino nails why the KC Royals' offense is in another frustrating slump

The KC Royals are once again in a slump that looks like it might never end, and a major reason for that slump is an offense that has been a problem for most of the 2025 season. The big question, of course, is why the team is struggling on offense as much as it is despite trying a myriad of different things, including calling up their top slugging prospect to try and get the thing jump-started.

It’s hard to know what exactly is the rock bottom of this recent swoon is. Was it losing two of three to the Chicago White Sox? Or losing to a slumping Athletics team on Friday night? It seems getting swept for the first time in months by the New York Yankees might have been the low water mark, if you ask Royals players, thanks in no small part to getting swept by losing the third game in the series, 1-0.

Vinnie Pasquantino: Royals must lose the 'weight' of RISP anxiety to end their June skid

After that series, KC Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said he knew exactly why the team is having so many problems getting wins. Talking to Anne Rogers of MLB.com, he said at-bats with runners in scoring position are getting into the team’s head.

“I think it is actually becoming a weight,” Pasquantino told the beat writer. “And I probably shouldn’t say that. But yeah, when there’s a guy in [scoring] position, like when you get up to the plate, you really want to get him in. And we don’t have an answer to solve that right now. At least, we haven’t up to this point.”

It’s a refreshing, candid answer from the Royals star, and the stats prove him out. 

For June, the Royals are second in all of baseball with a .274 batting average. They’re tied for 11th in OBP at .320 and 13th in slugging, with a respectable .413 number. None of those things should lead to a 1-6 record in their last seven games.

However, Kansas City is 27th in MLB in batting average (.210) with runners in scoring position in June. It’s even bigger when you consider they’re still hitting a perfect fine middle of the league .253 average with runners on. 

Something happens when a runner reaches second base, though. The entire team tightens up. Pasquantino has admitted as much. He also pointed out that one of the reasons the Yankees were able to sweep the Royals was that they did get the job done with RISP. That also proved true, as the Yanks are third in baseball so far this month with a .298 average in those situations.

“You never want to give a team that just beat you credit,” Pasquantino added. “But you just watch the at-bats and how they approach their at-bats, and how they just make the pitchers grind it out. We just got to do a better job of that. Find a way to get the extra 90, find a way to score somebody.”

So can the Kansas City Royals turn it around? There’s not great news in that department. The Pasquatch and his pals are 25th in baseball with a .225 average for the season. Indeed, something needs to shift in their approach. It’s just not clear if it will.