Royals rookie had his 1st MLB hit taken away in cruelest fashion during debut
Royals manager Matt Quatraro has been in professional baseball as either a player, coach or manager for nearly 30 years.
But he saw something new Monday in the Royals’ 7-4 loss to the Reds at Kauffman Stadium.
Rookie John Rave made his big-league debut and it appeared he got his first big-league knock on a bunt during the Royals’ three-run seventh inning. Rave laid down down the bunt and seemed to beat the throw to first.
Rave put his arms out to signal safe. He clapped his hands when first-base umpire Ron Kulpa said Rave beat the throw. The Crown Vision board trumpeted Rave’s first big-league hit.
Unfortunately, Reds manager Terry Francona challenge the call and it was overturned. Turns out there was no need to keep that baseball.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before, where you get it called and then overturned in your first hit,” Quatraro said.
Rave, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha and added to the Royals’ 40-man roster ahead of the game, took the lost single in stride.
While he didn’t get a hit, Rave was credited with a sacrifice bunt that moved Maikel Garcia to third. Garcia later scored on a sacrifice fly.
“It’s one of those things. I knew it was a bang-bang play,” Rave said. “Felt like I got a pretty good bunt down, and the pitcher made a better play. So it’s all right, move the runner over and just trying to play winning baseball.”
Rave had a walk along with the sacrifice. It was still a memorable day for the fifth-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.
Rave said his teammates let him be the first to take the field at the start of the game. And although he struck out in his first two at-bats, he drew a four-pitch walk in the ninth inning that loaded the bases.
The Royals’ rally fell short but Rave felt most comfortable in his final plate appearance.
“They were definitely there the whole game,” Rave said of his nerves. “Definitely going up in the ninth, I like big moments. Heart rate slowed down a little bit, and you can kind of feel the crowd get into it a little bit. And so that felt nice.
“That’s kind of when I felt like I was just back to myself. (I was) trying to see a good pitch and ended up getting walked. But I felt pretty good in the ninth.”
First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was disappointed his rookie teammate’s hit didn’t count but sees a bright future for Rave.
“It sucks, but he was out. I mean, it’s objective, right?” Pasquantino said. “So I wish it was a hit for him, for us, for everything, but that’s why we have replay to clean things like that up. And yeah, it’s just unfortunate. I thought he beat it, but the evidence showed that he didn’t.
“And I’m sure there will be a lot more hits for him to go coming forward.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
