Royals No. 1 prospect Caglianone rips two more homers for four in three games

May 6th, 2025

Jac Caglianone looks like he’s figuring out this Double-A thing and finding his groove at the plate. That's bad news for Texas League hurlers – and great news for the Royals’ top prospect.

Caglianone (MLB No. 18) belted two more homers in Northwest Arkansas’ 5-4 win over Wichita on Tuesday. The first multi-homer game of Caglianone's career was also his third straight game with at least one homer -- he's now socked four homers in his past three games and achieved multi-hit games in five of his last seven contests.

Facing Wind Surge righty Darren Bowen in Tuesday's third inning, Caglianone lined a solo homer over the left-field wall at Arvest Ballpark. He added a three-run opposite-field homer in the seventh, and also singled to finish with three hits and four RBIs on the afternoon.

Caglianone belted 68 homers as a two-way player over his final two seasons at the University of Florida before the Royals selected him sixth overall as a hitter in the 2024 Draft. It took a little while for that power to translate into pro ball, with Caglianone homering only twice in his first 29 games at High-A Quad Cities last summer in his debut. He then went deep five times in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League, flashing the power that made him one of the most feared sluggers in college baseball history.

Now that power is showing up in droves. Caglianone launched a two-run homer onto the roof of a nearby building off Cardinals No. 11 prospect Tekoah Roby on Saturday, followed it up with a solo shot on Sunday and added the two opposite-field blasts on Tuesday. Already this season, he's also turned heads with a 120.9 mph single, two hits off future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw during the southpaw's rehab assignment, and a string of tape-measure homers.

It's the kind of performance that has the Royals thinking about what's next for Caglianone, and they've started sprinkling in opportunities in right field with an eye toward potentially getting him to Kansas City faster, perhaps as quickly as this year.

Ultimately, it'll be the bat that drives those decisions, and so far, Caglianone is swinging exactly like the Royals hoped he would in his first stint at Double-A. The Royals have begun to discuss what a promotion to Triple-A would look like for Caglianone, but they won’t make that timetable public. And general manager J.J. Picollo reiterated again on Monday in Kansas City that the organization “loves” what Caglianone is doing in Double-A so far – they just want him to keep doing it.

“We’re not in any rush to get him to Triple-A,” Picollo said. “Not saying it hasn’t been discussed. It’s just – there’s no timetable on it. We like what he’s doing. We’re happy with what he’s doing. We’re trying to allow him to develop properly as a hitter. When this offense settles in, that might be the proper time for him to come up."

The Royals have hinted before that the ideal time for Caglianone to reach the big leagues is when the team is playing winning baseball and he doesn’t have the weight of turning an entire offense around by himself. Kansas City has won 12 of its last 14 games entering Tuesday, with the offense showing signs of improvement after a tough first month.

Still, the Royals won’t be rushing Caglianone, who is now hitting .330 with eight homers, 31 RBIs, and a 1.012 OPS through his first 28 games in Double-A, where his eight dingers rank second in the Texas League.

Because when the Royals do promote Caglianone, they want to be sure he’s ready to succeed – and help Kansas City win.

“From a batted ball perspective, there are things – you want guys to make it a little bit tighter,” Picollo said. “Hard-hit, which obviously isn’t a problem for him, but you get to chase and swing and miss, they’re going to be factors. In-zone swing and miss is a factor. … It’s trying to look at all that data, understanding, ‘OK, what can give a little bit, what’s going to survive up here?’”

With the Royals keeping an eye on the underlying metrics, there have been positive signs with the factors Picollo is talking about even in this past week of performance.

The next level can’t be far off, especially at the rate Caglianone is hitting.

“There are a lot of different factors that go into trying to figure out when a guy’s ready, and even at that point, they might not be ready,” Picollo said. “But we’re going to do our best to make sure he is.”

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He's on the Padres not very impressive offensively certainly for a "power hitter" 13 singles 1 double and no homers in 59 at bats. 2 walks, Stat line 220/246/237.
That's hardly sustainable on a pennant-contending team.

Geez, he is on a MLB team but you still have to rag on him.

I simply posted his numbers. They speak for themselves. Nice guy, I hope he has a long successful career.

Jac Caglianone





After 'beating' Double-A, Caglianone promoted to Triple-A by Royals

May 19th, 2025

KANSAS CITY -- Jac Caglianone is headed to Triple-A Omaha.

The Royals promoted their top prospect -- and MLB’s No. 10 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- from Double-A to Triple-A on Sunday night, and Caglianone will begin his stint with the Storm Chasers on Tuesday night when they go on the road to play Salt Lake (Angels).

Kansas City also promoted Frank Mozzicato, its No. 12 prospect, to Double-A after the lefty posted a 1.24 ERA in seven starts with High-A Quad Cities.

Sunday’s move was one step closer to the Majors for Caglianone, whom the Royals selected No. 6 overall in last summer’s MLB Draft out of Florida. Since then, he’s established himself as a top hitting prospect in baseball -- and someone who could arrive in Kansas City as soon as this summer.

“He was performing extremely well,” general manager J.J. Picollo said. “He wasn't being challenged as much as we'd like him to be challenged as a hitter -- not necessarily pitchers not coming after him, but he really wasn't going through much adversity there. And I think he really just beat the league.

“We saw some improvement in some of the decisions he was making at the plate. But even with that, just the idea of him facing pitchers who can repeat pitches, who can do more with command, will help his development. And that's what Triple-A really represents for us.”

The 22-year-old mashed in 38 games in Double-A, where he began his first full professional season, slashing .322/.394/.553, with eight doubles, nine homers and 43 RBIs. He struck out 37 times in 175 plate appearances and walked 19 times.

Caglianone was dominating Double-A pitching, and it was only a matter of time before the Royals moved him up a level. And they’re eager to see him make the adjustment to better pitching at Triple-A, with more crafty veterans there.

“He's always going to hit the ball hard,” Picollo said. “It’s just how consistently is he going to hit it hard? And is he going to get away with hitting some pitches that are out of the zone and still hitting him as hard as he has been? That’s why he's got to take this next step. But he's certainly prepared for it. He's excited about it. Ultimately he wants to be in the big leagues. That time will come, but this is the right next step for him.”

He logged six games in right field, as well as one in left field. That first base-outfield rotation will likely continue in Triple-A.

While Caglianone has been focusing on first base since the spring, the Royals had him start to get reps in right field at the end of April, increasing his versatility as they began to think about what his fit would be on their big league roster.

He logged six games in right field, as well as one in left field. With outfielder Joey Wiemer and utilityman Harold Castro both on the injured list in Triple-A, there will be opportunities for Caglianone to get reps in the outfield in Triple-A. He’ll still play a lot of first base, too, and could see days at DH.

Still, the Royals won’t rush their top prospect, no matter how much everyone would like to see him demolish balls into the fountains at Kauffman Stadium. They gave Caglianone a month-plus to settle into Double-A, preaching patience for a slugger less than a year into his pro career, and would like to see him settle into Triple-A now. His potential call-up will be based on his performance and what the Royals need on their big league roster.

“It's a career, and you want the guy to have success when he comes up,” Picollo said. “And we know that reps, historically speaking, are what guys need. The big leagues are a whole different animal.”

But Caglianone is now closer than ever.

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Last year pick Nick Kurtz is already with the As, hardly excelling at the major league level with a 222/270/346 slash line