John Rave Makes Case for Royals’ 2027 Fourth Outfield Role
On November 3, John Rave emerged as a candidate for a fourth-outfielder spot with the Kansas City Royals in 2027 after a stronger showing in his second major-league stint.
Rave hit .232 with a .314 on-base percentage and .430 slugging percentage in 161 plate appearances in 2026, producing a .744 OPS and a 105 wRC+. That was a substantial improvement on his 65 wRC+ across 175 plate appearances in 2025. He ranked eighth among Royals players in fWAR, with 1.0.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old paired power with patience. His 2026 isolated power was .197, and he drew walks at a 10.4% rate over his major-league appearances. He also recorded a 10.5% barrel rate and a 24.5% pull-air rate.
Rave’s batted-ball profile leaned heavily toward fly balls, which made up 43.4% of his contact. He hit .302 with an .860 slugging percentage on fly balls, but his ground-ball results were poor: his wRC+ on grounders was 3. Line drives accounted for 14.1% of his batted balls, while infield flies made up 11.6% of his fly balls.
On the bases, Rave stole eight bags and was caught once. His speed ranked in the 87th percentile, and he was credited with 1.9 baserunning runs by FanGraphs. He appeared at all three outfield positions, with his strongest defensive results in right field: five defensive runs saved, three outs above average and two fielding run value. His center-field marks were below average, while his left-field ratings were closer to average.
Rave’s walks, power, speed and right-field defense give Kansas City an in-house option for its fourth-outfielder role in 2027, rather than needing to seek one in free agency.