Vinnie Pasquantino DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (hamstring) is in the Opening Day lineup. Pasquantino will serve as the designated hitter and bat in the three-hole behind Jonathan India and Bobby Witt Jr. Pasquantino suffered a Grade 1-plus hamstring strain earlier in the week but has been cleared to serve as a DH. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status as the Royals may opt to ease him into defensive work. During spring training, Pasquantino posted a .208/.216/.417 slash line with four doubles and two home runs across 17 games. Last season, the 27-year-old logged a career-high 131 contests and held a .262/.315/.446 slash line with 19 long balls. He showed an elite eye at the plate with a 12.8 percent strikeout rate and generated a solid .331 xwOBA. He carries high RBI upside batting behind Witt and is a solid play in DFS facing Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee.

Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro said that first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (hamstring) is feeling good and will go through a full workout on Wednesday. The Royals will then re-evaluate him on Thursday morning to determine if he'll be in the starting lineup on Opening Day on Thursday versus the visiting Cleveland Guardians and right-hander Tanner Bibee. Pasquantino suffered a Grade 1-plus hamstring strain in spring training last weekend and is up in the air to be ready for Opening Day. In a worst-case scenario, the 27-year-old left-handed slugger will begin on the injured list and miss the first six games of the season. In that case, some combination of Salvador Perez, Mark Canha and Cavan Biggio would fill in at first base. If Pasquantino is in Thursday's lineup, he should be started in fantasy, as he's hit two homers off Bibee in just eight career at-bats.

Although Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino's (hamstring) status for Opening Day on Thursday against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians is in question after he picked up a Grade 1-plus right-hamstring strain in spring training on Saturday, he said he plans on playing on Thursday. The 27-year-old isn't a speed player, so a slight hamstring pull doesn't affect him as much, and he could be deployed as the designated hitter to begin the year. The Royals are off on Friday, although the team could back-date a 10-day injured list stint three days, meaning he could return as soon as April 2. Pasquantino won't play in the two exhibition games against the Rangers on Monday and Tuesday, but he hit in the cages on Monday "without feeling the hamstring at all," manager Matt Quatraro said. If he can up the intensity of his swings on Tuesday without feeling pain, he could be cleared to start on Thursday.