June 2: The Royals formally introduced that Caglianone’s contract has been chosen from Triple-A Omaha. Their 40-man roster is now full. Outfielder Dairon Blanco was optioned to Omaha to clear an area on the lively roster. Kansas Metropolis is off at the moment, so Caglianone’s debut will come tomorrow in St. Louis towards Cardinals righty Andre Pallante.
June 1: One among baseball’s high hitting prospects is headed to the majors, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan studies that the Royals are calling up Jac Caglianone. The Royals have an off-day on Monday, which strains Caglianone up for his massive league debut on Tuesday when the Royals begin a sequence in St. Louis towards the Cardinals. There are solely 39 gamers on Kansas Metropolis’s 40-man roster, so the membership can choose Caglianone’s contract on Tuesday after which make only one corresponding transaction to create house on the lively roster.
It was lower than a 12 months in the past that Caglianone was nonetheless awaiting his draft name, because the College of Florida product was chosen simply within the 2024 draft when Kansas Metropolis took him sixth general. Caglianone joins Cam Smith and Nick Kurtz as 2024 first-rounders which have already made their approach to the Present, and Caglianone has (as you may anticipate) compelled the difficulty by obliterating minor league pitching. Whereas he had solely a .690 OPS in 126 plate appearances at high-A ball in 2024, Caglianone has a mixed .323/.391/.600 slash line in 225 mixed PA on the Double-A and Triple-A ranges this 12 months.
Caglianone simply performed in his twelfth Triple-A sport at the moment, in order dominant because the 22-year-old slugger has been, a case might be made that the Royals are being hasty in bringing him as much as the majors this early in his professional profession. That stated, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams famous just some days in the past, Okay.C. may’ve felt a little bit of added motivation because of how little the group has gotten from its lineup, significantly within the outfield.
At present’s 1-0 loss to the Tigers marked the Royals’ sixth shutout lack of the season. Kansas Metropolis is tied with the Pirates for the second-lowest run complete (194) in baseball, forward of solely the woeful Rockies. With the Royals rating at or close to the underside of the league in a number of different main offensive classes, one thing needed to give, particularly because the group’s sturdy rotation was virtually single-handedly conserving Okay.C. within the AL Central race.
The seeds for Caglianone’s fast promotion had been planted when he made his first look as an outfielder with Double-A NW Arkansas again in late April. Each a star first baseman and pitcher throughout his faculty days, Caglianone gave up on pitching to solely give attention to hitting as knowledgeable, and he has obtained a daily dose (although not an unique place change) of proper area work during the last 5 weeks of minor league motion.
With Vinnie Pasquantino taking part in first base in Okay.C. and a number of other gamers getting cycled via the DH spot, placing Caglianone into proper area is a logical method on paper for the Royals to each get a star prospect to the majors, and to assist remedy their longstanding want for outfield assist. Even because the Royals reached the playoffs in 2024, their total outfield was a significant weak hyperlink, and Kansas Metropolis’s makes an attempt to improve the place over the offseason just didn’t really pan out. Caglianone’s promotion is the newest step in a shake-up that has already seen MJ Melendez optioned to Triple-A in April, and Hunter Renfroe released earlier this week.
The left-handed hitting Caglianone figures to separate time between proper area, first base, and doubtless DH occasionally. Drew Waters and Kyle Isbel will proceed to platoon in middle area, whereas Mark Canha, Michael Massey, and Jonathan India will probably share left area duties, with Massey/India additionally taking part in at second base and Canha probably getting a while in proper area spelling Caglianone towards some southpaws. Broadly talking, supervisor Matt Quatraro may very well be artistic along with his lineup given how Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia are the one regulars with above-average manufacturing, and even Witt’s 121 wRC+ is a sizeable step again from his MVP runner-up season in 2024.
It makes for a pressurized scenario for Caglianone in his first style of MLB motion, as Okay.C. followers have, if something, felt Caglianone was overdue for a promotion. Royals GM J.J. Picollo spoke of the scenario to Passan earlier this week, saying “The toughest half about this for us is we’re making an attempt to do what’s greatest for the participant. That’s finally what that is. You need the participant to be as ready as he can when he comes within the main leagues. It’s not honest to any participant, whether or not it’s Jac Caglianone or whoever, when a group could also be scuffling offensively, to attempt to put it on him and hope he’s going to come back save the day.”
Caglianone’s minor league numbers point out that he’s prepared for a step up in competitors. MLB Pipeline ranked him because the Twenty second-best prospect in baseball previous to the season, ESPN had him twenty ninth, and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation (sixtieth) and Baseball America (63rd) additionally had the slugger deeper of their rankings. The pundits agree that Caglianone is a gifted hitter with enormous energy and exit-velocity numbers, however the one query is whether or not or not there’s an excessive amount of swing-and-miss in his sport to deal with massive league pitching. Caglianone has performed effectively in posting respectable strikeout charges within the minors this 12 months although his chase price remains to be ungainly.
On account of his inclusion within the top-100 lists, Caglianone qualifies as a Prospect Promotion Incentive participant. Which means that if he finishes within the high two in AL Rookie of the 12 months voting, he’d earn a full 12 months of service time regardless of not being referred to as up till June. The timing of Caglianone’s call-up signifies that if he stays within the majors for the rest of 2025, he’d be on tempo to earn Tremendous Two standing and an additional 12 months of arbitration eligibility down the highway.
Picture courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea — Imagn Pictures
