“Royals activate Vinnie Pasquantino for Wild Card Series”

The Royals announced their Wild Card Series roster this morning, revealing the first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will be reinstated from the injured list. He'll be back in the middle of Kansas City's lineup, facing Orioles ace Corbin Burnes in today's Game 1 matchup.

It's a quick return for Pasquantino, who suffered a broken thumb on August 29 and was originally scheduled for a recovery period of six to eight weeks. Instead, he will return to the team in about five weeks and go straight back into the game without any rehab involvement.

There's obviously a risk of rust or lasting effects from the broken finger, but the Royals are certainly thrilled that one of their best hitters has been cleared to take the field. The 26-year-old Pasquantino hit .262/.315/.446 (108 wRC+) this season and ranked third on the team with 19 home runs and 97 runs batted in. He's also the hardest strikeout among Royals regulars, striking out just 12.8% of his times this season.

Pasquantino's early return will effectively put pressure on the club Robbie Grossman no longer on the team's postseason roster, at least for this round. Kansas City enters with 11 pitchers and 15 position players. Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo And Michael Wacha are at the start of the three games with a contingent of Kris Bubic, Lucas Erceg, Sam Long, Michael Lorenzen, Daniel Lynch IV, John Schreiber, Brady Singer And Angel Zerpa available as a relief. They will carry eight infielders (Pasquantino, Paul DeJong, Adam Frazier, Maikel Garcia, Yuli Gurriel, Garrett Hampson, Michael Massey And Bobby Witt Jr.) in addition to five outfielders (Dairon Blanco, Kyle Isbel, MJ Melendez, Tommy Pham, Hunter Renfroe) and their two captors (Freddy Fermin, Salvador Perez).