{"id":1954307,"date":"2025-08-11T17:19:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T17:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1954307"},"modified":"2025-08-11T17:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T17:19:56","slug":"royals-must-make-this-roster-move-before-playoff-hopes-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-must-make-this-roster-move-before-playoff-hopes-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Must Make This Roster Move Before Playoff Hopes Collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"style_hfl21i-o_O-style_uhlm2\"\/>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_ljsejunbu\">Simply put, the Kansas City Royals have zero time to spare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_3nwy89ukn\">After their series loss against the fourth-place Minnesota Twins this weekend, the Royals miraculously still have a shot at the playoffs. They&#8217;re four games back of the sputtering New York Yankees for the final wild card spot in the American League, with the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers to overtake as well. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_zzangv0fu\">At this point, every roster spot is of vital importance. If someone isn&#8217;t pulling their weight, they need to be sent packing. And while not every player can be quickly replaced by someone with a better shot at contributing, there&#8217;s one Royal who could be supplanted in a heartbeat. <\/p>\n<div data-mm-id=\"_tqs7hvttb\" class=\"\">\n<div class=\"style_120ff32\">\n<figure data-id=\"_tqs7hvttb\" class=\"base_1ruub6q\" data-mm-type=\"image\"><canvas class=\"style_1e28o3x-o_O-initial_9vayoh\"\/><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\"><source\/><source\/><source\/><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"John Rave\" title=\"John Rave\"\/><\/picture><noscript><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_620,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_620,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3983,h_2240,x_0,y_102\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k2d181nnz6bcbqw8dy.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\"\/><\/picture><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p><figcaption class=\"tagStyle_1ulimm5-o_O-text_1j8vahs\">Jul 18, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder John Rave (16) celebrate with center fielder Kyle Isbel (28) after hitting a home run against the Miami Marlins during the ninth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images \/ Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_v511yraf4\">John Rave is a 27-year-old rookie outfielder who spent six seasons in the minors before making his debut this year. He&#8217;s now appeared in 53 games, and he&#8217;s unfortunately playing about how you&#8217;d expect a minor league journeyman to perform. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_ojsakw2hi\">Rave is slashing .200\/.301\/.322 in 135 plate appearances. That would be bad enough from a corner outfielder, but the defense also hasn&#8217;t been remarkable (one defensive run saved), and a misplay may have <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_1gn6yjz\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/royals\/news\/royals-rookie-has-brutally-honest-assessment-of-stupid-game-losing-mistake-jackson3\" target=\"_blank\">cost the Royals<\/a> the game in Sunday&#8217;s 5-3 loss. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_zmvsc5u6i\">In general, the Royals&#8217; outfielders have been dreadful this year. We can&#8217;t sit here and blame Rave for all the problems. Yet, there comes a time when you have to try something different, and that time has arrived. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_044hhs9oh\">Going back to Drew Waters at this point isn&#8217;t ideal, but at least the switch-hitter has been productive at Triple-A recently. He owns an OPS of .836 in 27 games for the Omaha Storm Chasers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_ft7f4vp1m\">There&#8217;s also MJ Melendez, who was supposed to be the starting left fielder all along, but who has twice been optioned to Triple-A after a dreadful year at the big-league level. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_2nfirrlqk\">At some point, Jac Caglianone will return from the injured list. He&#8217;s on track to begin a rehab assignment this week. But there&#8217;s no reason for the Royals to wait that long to make a change, especially when Caglianone has yet to prove he&#8217;s ready to hit major league pitching.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_kcsx5cyw7\">There may be no perfect solution, but as long as Rave is part of the problem, the Royals can&#8217;t justify keeping him on the active roster, when every game at this point could be the difference between October and a seat on the couch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_j6iud67rw\"><em><strong>More MLB: <\/strong><\/em><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_1gn6yjz\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/royals\/news\/royals-rookie-has-brutally-honest-assessment-of-stupid-game-losing-mistake-jackson3\"><em><strong>Royals Rookie Has Brutally Honest Assessment Of &#8216;Stupid&#8217; Game-Losing Mistake<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simply put, the Kansas City Royals have zero time to spare. After their series loss against the fourth-place Minnesota Twins this weekend, the Royals miraculously still have a shot at the playoffs. They&#8217;re four games back of the sputtering New York Yankees for the final wild card spot in the American League, with the Cleveland [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1954308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1954307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Royals-Must-Make-This-Roster-Move-Before-Playoff-Hopes-Collapse.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1954307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1954308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1954307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1954307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1954307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}