Pasquantino talks thumb rehab (with video games?), plus witnessing Witt

In a recent sit-down with MLB.com at Yankee Stadium, Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino spoke on a wide range of topics from his broken right thumb to Bobby Witt Jr.

MLB.com: The obvious question: How’s your thumb holding up?

Vinnie Pasquantino: It’s getting better. We are working on it. We are giving it everything we got to try and make a comeback.

MLB.com: Before Wednesday’s game, I saw you jogging and throwing baseballs. Something tells me you are going to be back for the postseason. What do you think?

Pasquantino: I hope that intuition is correct. That’s my plan, too. I have no evidence to prove that I will be or I won’t be [there]. I’m hopeful that my body heals quickly and we can make it happen.

MLB.com: Do you get a sense that the thumb is getting better?

Pasquantino: I was able to play video games last night.

MLB.com: With both hands?

Pasquantino: With both hands, which is a funny piece of my rehab. [The trainers] want me to move my thumb around and try to increase some mobility in it. I was able to do that for the first time. I’m able to kind of text with my right thumb. I’m able to pick things up which is nice. It’s moving forward.

MLB.com: You were having your best season before the injury. How shocking was it that you had to miss time?

Pasquantino: It hit me hard. It’s something I tried to pride myself in, which is availability. I was pretty clear about when people asked me what my goals were for the season, it was pretty simple: Be available for 162 games. I can’t be but I’m not so upset because it’s a freak injury. … So I’m not losing any sleep on it. I am about as frustrated as you can be about it. Yeah, I’m pretty happy with the season that I was having. I’m really happy with the season the team is having. It’s ultimately super frustrating, but I have a super support system around me that has helped lift me through this.

MLB.com: Who is your support system?

Pasquantino: My wife, Ryann. She is just incredible. We have been together since early in college. She has seen everything at this point. My parents have been great, just being there when I need them. We have some support staff from the Royals that I can go to. I have some support system of my own outside of baseball for life things. I’m lucky to have a really good team around me.

MLB.com: What’s the biggest advice you have received while you were out?

Pasquantino: Well, when I got hurt in high school, my best friend told me, “You’re Vinnie. Baseball is not your life. You are your life.” What he was saying was, me as a person is more important than me as a baseball player. He called me immediately after the thumb injury and he said, “I want to give you the same advice except that your life is … baseball now. [Laughing]. I’d love to give you the same advice, but I can’t now. It’s kind of all you do.” Just having funny moments like that, just being able to reminisce about some things that I went through before, knowing how I can get through this now. Like I said, I’m lucky to have the team I have around me.

MLB.com: I want to talk about your season. You were ridiculous with runners in scoring position. You had 80 RBIs in that department, while hitting .360. Why did you shine in that category?

Pasquantino: Some pessimists out there will tell you that’s how bad I was without runners in scoring position. My job is to drive in runs, so I don’t know if it’s necessarily locking in a little bit more or whatever it is. I always feel like every at-bat I’m pretty focused. But maybe there is a little bit more attention to detail. Maybe, instead of driving the ball out of the ballpark and trying to drive myself in, it was more what can I do to get this run in? I don’t know if there is an answer to it. It could be I was more fortunate with runners in scoring position than without this year. I would rather be that way than the other way.

I’m also fortunate to have a guy who hits in front of me and he gets on base with a .400 clip. I felt like I was always hitting with someone on base. This team’s motto is to pass the baton and get to the next guy. I feel like I was able to do that quite a bit, whether it’s getting the guy over, a sac fly or whatever it may be. Just doing the job.

MLB.com: You mentioned him without saying it. Bobby Witt Jr. How amazing is he?

Pasquantino: His speed is incredible. The beautiful thing for him is, he does everything at such a high level. Even as he gets older and potentially loses some of that speed, it’s not going to affect his game. He is one of the top five players in baseball. … What he is doing is ridiculous. It’s not a fluke either. He is doing it every single night. It’s not like he got hot for a week and he sustained some numbers. It’s not even hot what he is doing. It’s just ridiculous. … He has consistently put together some of the best at-bats in baseball all year long. It’s incredible.

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MLB.com: Was this year your coming out party?

Pasquantino: It depends. If you want to get real analytical, technically speaking, I only have a one point something WAR [1.2 according to Baseball Reference], so I don’t think a whole lot of people find me that valuable in terms of analytics. You look at WAR and I didn’t do that great of a job. But in my mind, what I do best is I go compete and I play the game. In the short term and long term, I want to continuously keep pushing that envelope to help get this team to the playoffs on a yearly basis. That’s the real dream – help the Kansas City Royals become a mainstay in the playoffs every year.

MLB.com: Frank Robinson taught me the most important thing is RBIs. You must believe in that category, obviously.

Pasquantino: One hundred percent. I know my role on this team and that is to drive guys in, however I can, whether that’s a single, double, home run, triple, sac fly or whatever it is. I was proud of how I was able to do that this year. I hope that continues the rest of my career because there is nothing better than driving in a guy. There is absolutely nothing better than that.

MLB.com: I have a gut feeling I will see you in the American League Championship Series. What do you think?

Pasquantino: Where do you think we will be? Are we going to be at Yankee Stadium?

MLB.com: Could be.

Pasquantino: I hope so. I have a gut feeling we are going to make it there, too. I’m excited to keep watching this team, keep trying to get this [thumb] healthy and see what happens.