The Kansas City Royals head into MLB games today with one of the worst lineups in baseball, weighing down a team led by an excellent pitching staff. While there’s no specific timeline for top prospect Jac Caglianone to be promoted, there’s hope on the horizon for Kansas City.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic spoke to a rival talent evaluator who first saw Caglianone’s eye-popping talent at the amateur level. The evaluator came away getting a “peak Matt Olson vibe” from Caglianone, with a belief that he could eventually lead MLB in home runs during his career-best seasons.
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- Jac Caglianone stats: .326/.394/.606, 1.000 OPS, 15 home runs, 9 doubles, 55 RBI in 193 ABs
Caglianone, age 22, was chosen by Kansas City with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. While he struggled at the High-A level last year, he tore the cover off the ball in Double-A this season (.947 OPS) to earn a promotion to Triple-A Omaha. In 10 games, he’s already hit 10 home runs with a 1.196 OPS and a .341/.391/.805 triple-slash line in 41 at-bats.
Power is certainly something the Royals lineup needs. Kansas City is the only team in baseball yet to hit 40-plus home runs this season, entering Saturday 6 home runs shy of that mark. For comparison, 14 teams have 60-plus home runs and 21 teams have 20-plus more home runs than the Royals lineup.
- Kansas City Royals lineup stats (FanGraphs): .666 OPS (26th), .248 batting average (15th), 6.6% walk rate (30th), .115 isolated power (29th), 193 runs scored (28th), 34 home runs (30th)
The question becomes how Kansas City gets him a spot in the lineup. He’s primarily a first baseman, a spot occupied by Vinnie Pasquantino. Meanwhile, Salvador Perez fills in at first base in addition to his work as a designated hitter. It leaves the outfield, which is more difficult because of Kauffman Stadium. However, the Royals seem confident Caglianone would do just fine.
“While outfield defense is important at spacious Kaufman Stadium, club officials expect Caglianone will be adequate in a corner. “
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Kansas City Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone
Kansas City is trying to be patient, in part due to service-time manipulation and the need to see how Caglianone handles playing in the outfield. However, the lack of run production from the Royals lineup is creating a more dire situation and all signs are pointing to Caglianone getting called up this summer.
While he’ll face a learning curve and it’ll take time before he settles in, Caglianone would immediately provide Kansas City with more power. If he lives up to the Matt Olson comparison, it could only be a few years before the Royals lineup has another perennial All-Star hitter.
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