Royals' RISP problems persisting despite lineup changes

CHICAGO -- The Royals have made a plethora of aggressive moves during the first 65 games of the 2025 season to improve their lackluster run production. After two games in Chicago, just days after the most notable move of selecting Jac Caglianone’s contract, Kansas City finds itself stuck dropping games in an all-too-familiar fashion.

Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the White Sox at Rate Field followed a similar pattern -- despite the lineup change that sparked 22 runs over three games in St. Louis earlier this road trip. The Royals have gone 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position this series and hold a .601 OPS in those spots this season, the worst mark in the Majors.

“Within one game, and I know it’s been the whole season, but within a one-game sample of an 0-for-5 or 0-for-6 [with runners in scoring position], it’s like, you get two hits, and all of a sudden that average boosts a lot,” said Vinnie Pasquantino, who went 3-for-3 with a solo homer and a walk. “And then it’s not even really a conversation.

“I think I’d probably frame it as, yeah, the number was [0-for-5], and that sucks. We got to be better. But where I think we can be better is let’s get more guys into scoring position.”

The Royals moved Maikel Garcia up to the No. 3 spot, moving red-hot Pasquantino to cleanup while dropping Salvador Perez to fifth when Caglianone earned his spot in the Majors to not only create but capitalize more on those scoring chances. And while Pasquantino has delivered as much as he can of late -- hitting .439 in his past 15 games and scoring two of the club's three runs this series -- teams are finding ways to exploit hitters when it matters most.

For a majority of this season, that has been when the Royals’ captain has been at the dish. Perez, who had a .955 OPS with runners in scoring position in 2024, had a .617 mark over 81 plate appearances (seventh-most in MLB) with runners in scoring position entering Saturday this season, which ranks 130th out of 152 players with at least 50 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. Perez struck out four times Saturday, three of which came with runners on base, including a second and third, nobody out situation in the fourth in which the Royals came up empty.

But despite his struggles, the Royals know if their offense is going to get going, Perez is going to play a major role in it.

“Salvy swings, we know that. He’s a free swinger,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Going back to two days ago, he’s driving in runs all over the place in St. Louis, so there’s no chance we run away from Salvy. He’s a guy that gets hot and cold. He didn’t have a great day today, but he picked us up huge in St. Louis.”

Despite the current offensive frustration, the Royals point to the recent production of Pasquantino as proof that sticking by your best hitters will pan out. The Royals’ first baseman hit just .172 in April, but has a .930 OPS since the start of May.

“That’s a prime example -- earlier in the year people were talking about moving him in the batting order,” Quatraro said. “You got to stick with your guys. You got to believe in the guys that we know can produce, and they will.”

And while that hasn’t worked out so far -- the Royals are 27th in runs scored (219) and last in home runs (42) this season -- there are signs clutch knocks are coming. Kansas City is 10th in hits (546) and tied for 11th in doubles (107) this season, so the production is there, but now it’s about stringing those hits together.

The Royals have been aggressive in the search to make that possible -- optioning MJ Melendez, designating Hunter Renfroe for assignment and calling up Caglianone, Nick Loftin, Drew Waters and John Rave early this season -- but the big hits have eluded a Kansas City team that has playoff aspirations.

Dropping the first two against a White Sox (22-43) team that beat the Royals (33-32) just once last year is another example that 2025 hasn’t gone as planned, but that hasn’t changed what the team believes it can accomplish.

“I think we can all agree that we haven’t played our best baseball, and if you would have asked us at the beginning of the year, ‘Hey, you guys don’t especially hit as a team, you don’t do what you want to do. But you’re a game over right now.’ We would probably be pretty pumped,” Pasquantino said. “I think that’s a good sign that this team is disappointed with where we’re at right now, because we’ve still been fighting for victories, and we’re going to keep doing that.”