Vinnie and the Sacrifice Fly

When there was a runner on third and Vinnie Pasquantino came to the plate, the Royals first baseman was probably bringing him home.

Everyone loves a big inning. A team gets that runner on third with less than two outs and you start to think about how a team can score two, three, four or even more runs. I don’t know if there’s any math or science behind this (I suppose you pay me to look that stuff up, huh?), but it sure feels like missing out on that opportunity to score even one in those situations is backbreaking. The Royals did exceptionally well in getting the run home in those situations. Maybe they didn’t always get the big inning, but with a runner on third and less than two outs, they hit a fly ball that scored that run 54 times, third-most in baseball.

And one man, Vinnie Pasquantino, accounted for more of them than anyone else in baseball. He hit 13 sacrifice flies. Don’t get me wrong. He was more than sacrifice flies. You don’t drive in 97 runs in 554 plate appearances when the average player had 62 in that many plate appearances with only sacrifice flies, but Pasquantino became a different player with a man on third and less than two outs. Today, I want to look at all 13. I do actually have some analysis of how his approach changed that I’ll get to, but first I want to look at every situation because that’s what the offseason is for. It’s fun!

Date: April 10, 2024

Score: Royals 8, Astros 2

Count: 0-1