KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced this afternoon that infielder Vinnie Pasquantino and right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for June. The awards are determined by a local media vote.
Pasquantino led all Royals with 19 RBI in the month of June, while slashing .276/.342/.490 (27-for-98). He matched Bobby Witt Jr. for the team lead with 12 extra-base hits, as he tallied 7 doubles, 1 triple and 4 home runs. His 19 RBI last month were tied for the 10th most in the American League, trailing leader Aaron Judge (37), and they were the most by a Royal in the month of June in seven years, since Mike Moustakas recorded 22 RBI in June 2017. Pasquantino’s 8 go-ahead RBI in June led the American League and were just 1 behind the Major League leaders, Ketel Marte, Shohei Ohtani and Alec Burleson. He finished the month with an active 7-game streak with an RBI, which is the longest such streak of his career, and he has an active 9-game RBI streak at Kauffman Stadium, which is the longest such streak at home by a Royal in a single season since Eric Hosmer’s club-record 12-game streak from Aug. 7-25, 2015. He homered in consecutive plate appearances against the division-rival Guardians, hitting a 2-run shot in the 8th inning on June 28, followed by his game-tying solo home run in the 1st inning on June 29. Overall this season, Pasquantino is tied for 6th in the American League with 55 RBI and his 18 go-ahead RBI are tied for the 3rd most in the Majors, behind only Judge (21) and Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm (19). This marks Pasquantino’s first monthly honor of the season and third of his career, after winning back-to-back awards in September/October 2022 and March/April 2023.
Lugo went 2-1 over 6 starts in June with a 3.11 ERA (13 ER in 37.2 IP), plus 39 strikeouts (9.3 K/9, 25.7 K%). He recorded at least 6.0 innings in all 6 of his starts, and his 37.2 innings pitched were tied for the 3rd most in the Majors, behind only San Francisco’s Logan Webb (40.0 IP) and the Cubs Justin Steele (38.0). Lugo allowed 9 runs in 13.0 innings over his 1st 2 starts last month, however in his last 4 outings, he pitched to a 1.46 ERA (4 ER in 24.2 IP), and he has not allowed a run in his last 12.0 innings after closing out the month with back-to-back outings of 6.0 scoreless frames. On June 25 vs. Miami, he held the Marlins to just 2 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts in his 6.0 shutout innings, then earned his Major League-leading 11th win of the season in the Royals 6-2 series-clinching win over the Guardians on June 30, when he scattered just 4 hits and 1 walk with 10 strikeouts. That marked his 3rd start with double-digit strikeouts in his last 10 outings, after not having more than 9 strikeouts in any of his 1st 72 career starts. His 5 starts this season of at least 6.0 scoreless innings match Detroit’s Tarik Skubal for the most such starts in the Majors. Lugo leads all Major Leaguers this season with a 2.17 ERA (28 ER in 116.0 IP), which is the lowest mark by a Royal through his 1st 18 starts with the franchise, well ahead of Royals Hall of Famer Paul Splittorff’s 2.46 ERA from 1970-71. The nine-year veteran has earned Royals Pitcher of the Month honors in three straight months to begin the season, after signing a two-year free agent contract with Kansas City last Dec. 14. He’s the first pitcher to earn the honor in three consecutive months since Brady Singer did so from July-September/October 2022.
