Royals look to boost flailing offense by promoting outfielder from Triple-A
The Royals’ offense is in need of a boost, and they hope they’ve found it with a player in their minor-league system.
No team in the American League has fewer runs this season than the Royals (179), and they have scored three runs or fewer in nine of their last 11 games.
Ahead of Monday’s game against the Reds, the Royals added outfielder John Rave to their 40-man roster and promoted him from Triple-A Omaha. Infielder/outfielder Cavan Biggio was optioned to the Storm Chasers.
“John did a great job in spring training and nearly made our club out of spring training,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “And he did what you want players to do: Go back down and just force our hand. And we thought the way he was performing, we’ve been talking about it for maybe 10 days now, but the way he was performing, continuing to do well.
“Obviously, we’re looking for a little bit of a spark in our offense, and he’s a well-rounded player, good hitter, good defender, runs the bases well. He plays the type of game that we feel like we need to play to be a winning team.”
While most Royals fans have been captivated by the power of first baseman Jac Caglianone (and rightfully so), Rave has been doing it in all phases for the Storm Chasers this season.
Rave, 27, batted .301 with nine home runs, eight doubles, four triples and 46 runs scored in 44 games at Omaha. He also stole 17 bases and was caught just one time.
Here is a look at a couple of home runs Rave hit this season.
Rave, who was selected by the Royals in the fifth round of the 2019 MLB Draft, also has showed off his defensive prowess in the past. He made this dazzling catch in 2023.
Rave was told by Omaha manager Mike Jirschele before the Storm Chasers’ game Sunday that the Royals were bringing him to Kansas City.
“I hope I can ... just be consistent,” Rave said. “Have good at-bats, play good defense, be good on the base paths.”
Biggio’s future
The Royals signed Biggio to a minor-league contract in January and he made the team out of spring training.
Biggio was batting .174 with a home run, two doubles and four RBIs in 37 games.
Biggio has two days to decide if he will remain with the Royals organization or become a free agent. Picollo hopes Biggio stays with the franchise.
This is the second move in less than a week the Royals have made to upgrade their offense. Hunter Renfroe was designated for assignment on Friday and Nick Loftin was promoted from Omaha.
This story was originally published May 26, 2025 at 10:32 AM.
