Royals News: Insane Bobby Witt Jr. stat, John Rave thriving in Omaha, Tommy Pham Mets

The Kansas City Royals entered their Monday off-day with plenty to think about following a confusing 10-game strtech since their lone series win of the season against the Minnesota Twins to start the month. While their starting rotation has largely thrived, the offense has paled in comparison, currently ranking as one of the worst entities in baseball this season.

Because of their shortcomings at the plate, some of the pieces who are actually performing well, like Bobby Witt Jr., are seeing their efforts left nearly completely squandered. As Dan Clark of TBL Daily pointed out, Witt has reached base 30 times and left stranded by the Royals 29 times.

While several Royals are struggling, the primary culprits for Witt not coming around score more often are the two names directly beneath him in the lineup on a regular basis in Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. Pasquantino is sporting just a .153/.246/.169 slash line and 24 wRC+. Then in the clean-up spot, Perez holds just a .153/.219/.288 slash line and 38 wRC+.

The Royals will enter their next game with at least a semblance of momentum having scored five or more runs for just the fourth time this season on Sunday. However, it’s becoming clear that something has to change, and fast, or else they could very well continue to squander their franchise cornerstone’s immense recent offensive efforts.

Royals’ outcast John Rave wins Player of the Week in International League

The Royals have tried to find success in the John Rave experiment multiple times only to be disappointed by his offensive shortcomings at the plate. He’s a career 65 wRC+ hitter with a .196/.283/.307 slash line with the Royals in the big leagues.

However, in Triple-A Omaha it’s a different story. He’s coming off a 107 wRC+ season there in 2024, a 130 wRC+ last season and now he’s opened the 2026 campaign with a 162 wRC+ and .319/.443/.553 slash line. Part of this was his award winning effort last week, where he went 9-for-19 with a pair of homers and nine RBI.

Unlike last season, when Rave had yet to make a big league appearance before being called up in late May, the Royals have seen how Rave’s game has translated to the majors.

This isn’t to say they won’t call upon him given their offense’s struggles, especially in the outfield, but this time around it’s probably safe to say they’ll exercise more caution before going all-in on a hot start.

Former Royals outfielder Tommy Pham set to join Mets’ big league roster

Rounding things off, here’s a dose of some old friend news as Tommy Pham had his contract selected by the New York Mets on Monday.

Pham officially signed on with the Mets on a minor league deal at the end of March ahead of Opening Day 2026. He hasn’t exactly thrived in his time in the Mets’ system, holding a 96 wRC+ in Low-A St. Lucie, but five lower-minors games isn’t anything to take too much stock in.

Pham will immediately be thrown into the fire, having been named in New York’s starting lineup on Monday for their road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pham’s time in Kansas City was short-lived, having joined the Royals via waivers ahead of the final month of the season in 2024. His 60 wRC+ in that month was nothing to write home about, but Royals fans will better remember him for his postseason efforts, headlined by a .455 AVG and .871 OPS in their tightly-contested ALDS series versus the Yankees.