Is Nick Loftin establishing himself as a lineup regular for the KC Royals?

Happy days have fallen on the Kansas City Royals once again, as both the team and the fan base continue to revel in their latest three-game winning streak and 6-2 start to the month of July.

Things have been clicking on all cylibders for the Royals of late. They're pitching remains top-tier and now suddenly their offense looks a lot more capable than it's been in a long time.

As good as the offense has been as a whole though, no one is likely feeling better than utility man Nick Loftin, who's taken the ball and rolled with in a more regular role in July, looking especially good the last two games in particular.

Is Nick Loftin establishing himself as a lineup regular for the KC Royals?

It's been a special couple games for Loftin, as not only has managed to create a mini three-game hitting streak for himself, but has done it in a impressive manner over the last two days.

Entering Sunday's series finale in Arizona over the weekend, Loftin was hitting just .167 with a .537 OPS. Now, entering Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh, Loftin is above the Mendoza line at .202 and up over 100 OPS points to .649.

This is in large part thanks to a solo shot in a 2-for-4 outing in KC's 9-3 route of the Pirates on Monday and then following that performance up by playing hero on Tuesday with another 2-for-4 outing belting a 2-run homer and then cashing in with a walk-off RBI single in the ninth.

Loftin has been in the lineup everyday since July 3 in Seattle and has sort of assumed the role of Drew Waters, who was a pretty regular fixture in this lineup before he was optioned back to Triple-A Omaha on July 4. He's certainly made the most of this opportunity.

While he's not perfect by any means, there's reason to believe that he has some staying power in this lineup beyond his recent hot stretch.

From an underlying metrics point of view, he doesn't hit the ball hard and he's not prone to drawing walks. However, his approach at the plate has been excellent this season. He's squaring balls up at a strong 32.1% clip, while chasing at just 24.2% rate and whiffing just 18.1% of the time - culminating in an exquisitely low 13.3% K-rate.

For a bottom of the order-type bat, this is exactly what you want, as it goes a long way to keeping the line moving. And a bottom half bat is all they need him to be with the amount of star power they hold in the upper half.

This isn't the first time we've seen Loftin look strong in 2025, as he got off to a solid start with the Royals after being re-called at the end of May, so it remains to be seen whether this is just another hot stretch or a sign of things to come.

But what can't be discounted is the fact he's stepped into more regular playing time and played an immense role in some of the best baseball this Royals team has played in months. And he's certainly making up for some of the struggles we saw as recent as around a week ago, as well as an underwhelming 2024 season (.189 AVG, .519 OPS, 50 wRC+ and -0.2 fWAR).

Again, only time will tell if Loftin will continue this torrid pace, but if the Royals have another solid offensive contributor in their midst with the positional versatility he possesses, it will go a long way to helping them continue their hunt for postseason baseball.