Struggling Royals rookie might finally be finding his footing at big league level

There was plenty of hype surrounding John Rave’s promotion to the major leagues back in May – after spending so many years in the minors. However, it’s not an exaggeration to say that he’s failed to live up to said hype during his Royals rookie campaign.

For the 2025 campaign, Rave is slashing just .217/.312/.358 with only four HR, 13 RBI and an 86 wRC+.

That being said, season stats don’t tell the whole story of Rave, as over his past six games he’s looked like a completely new man at the plate.

John Rave is finally finding his footing at the plate in the big leagues

As touched upon already, Rave has looked like a much more capable hitter over is past six games, hitting safely in five of those six contests. In this span, he’s slashing .471/.526/.706 with a 243 wRC+, making him their leader across the board in each of these metrics.

While it’s not a large sample size, considering he only racked up one hit in the 11 games prior to this six game spell, it’s nothing short of a night-and-day difference.

And Rave seemed to really put the pedal to the metal and make a statement in Saturday’s 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

He would replace star first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, after he was lifted for a “heat-related illness” according to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers. In three plate appearances, Rave would go 2-for-3 with a pair of hits (one of which was a homer), an RBI and two runs scored.

Whether or not this is a sign of things to come for the 27-year-old outfielder or simply his longest “flash in the pan” streak at the major league level, remains to be seen. However, what it did do was make the conversation of whether he still warrants a place on the Royals active roster that much more interesting.

Before he entered this game on Sunday, his hot stretch couldn’t make up for the fact that he was a only 76 wRC+ bat that had just managed to surpass the Mendoza Line by a few points (.205). While there’s hitters who’ve certainly been just as bad if not worse than Rave this season, like Nick Loftin (68 wRC+) or Tyler Tolbert (60 wRC+), at least they offer some additional value in positional versatility, as opposed Rave’s ability to solely play the outfield.

Kansas City will have roster decisions to make in the near future, with a few names in Michael Massey and Mark Canha – who are currently on rehab assignments and seemingly set to return to action soon. This definitely throws some ambiguity into the MLB future of depth hitters like Rave.

But one thing is for sure, Rave looks as confident a hitter as he has since he arrived on the major league scene and is making his case to remain in the fold at the perfect time.