The Kansas City Royals’ top prospect, Jac Caglianone, has continued his rapid rise up the ranks. The slugger spent just under two weeks at the AAA level with the Omaha Storm Chasers before receiving the call-up to the Big Show following Omaha’s 6-3 win over St. Paul.
MLB insider Jeff Passan broke the news on Sunday night.
After having tremendous success with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in AA with 43 RBIs, nine home runs and eight doubles, the Royals promoted Caglianone to AAA on May 19. He played 12 games with the Storm Chasers, totaling 15 hits, six home runs, one double and 13 RBIs with a .319 batting average, a .370 on-base percentage and a .723 slugging percentage.
After seeing the ball well in his first couple games, he described the differences in pitching he’s faced at the different levels.
“Definitely the pitchers’ misses,” Caglianone told reporters. “They’re going to be a lot more competitive. So you really just kind of need to keep that laser focus throughout every at bat, pitch to pitch.”
The Royals drafted Caglianone with the sixth pick in the 2024 MLB draft after an incredible college career with the Florida Gators. While in Gainesville, he broke Wyatt Langford’s slugging percentage record with a .760 percentage and Matt LaPorta’s home run record with 75 in just two seasons. He also hit home runs in nine consecutive games, tied for an NCAA record.
During his college career, he accumulated 225 hits, 28 doubles, two triples, 176 runs scored and 189 RBIs in addition to his 75 home runs. He pitched 148 1/3 innings over two seasons with 170 strike outs, 113 hits allowed, 105 walks and 16 home runs with an ERA of 4.45.
Caglianone made plenty of fans in Omaha while his Gators visited Charles Schwab Field for the College World Series, and the attention only intensified when the Royals drafted him. Plenty of fans made the drive to Werner Park specifically to see Caglianone play in person.
“It’s awesome,” Caglianone said. “I’m not going to lie to you, before I didn’t really know the Royals’ affiliates too well, so I thought we were playing at Charles Schwab. It wasn’t until I was actually in the organization where it was like, no you’re Papillion.”
Although he was a pitcher and first basemen in college, he’s now transitioned to the outfield in the minor leagues. He said that he has a little experience out there but is working at and learning more about the position with the coaches.
Former Major Leaguer and current Royals front office member Rusty Kuntz “has been probably the biggest help,” Caglianone said. “He’s somebody that knows the game extremely well. So we’ve just been working on first step reads, kind of the footwork that needs to go into play in the outfield. I played it in high school, but in high school it’s more of a just field it and throw it in as fast as you can. Now it’s getting into the nitty gritty bits of it. So he’s been very helpful with it.”
At this time last year, Caglianone was looking to make it to the College World Series. Less than a year later, he made his way through the minors back to Omaha — and on to Kansas City. He said that it’s been an awesome experience with how fast everything has happened.
“It’s kind of a whirlwind, to kind of take a step back and look at it,” Caglianone said. “But I’m just focusing one day at a time. It was cool to see (eighth overall pick) Christian Moore last week. We were both kind of in the same boat. So talking to him and just kind of piecing together this past year, it’s been cool to see. Especially being able to do it with some people from the draft class. So it’s been great.”
With success comes a lot of pressure. Although he knows it’s there, he chooses not to focus on that, but rather on what’s in his control.
“I don’t really look at social media, to be honest with you,” Caglianone said. “So I just kind of focus on my faith, my family, and let everything else just kind of take care of itself.”
Caglianone said he enjoyed being back in Omaha, a city in which he’s already created great memories.
“Pretty cool,” Caglianone said. “Me and my dad, we went to Sullivan’s downtown last night, went to a steakhouse and rode past the park that me and my mom walked through my sophomore year. So it’s cool to be back.”
Throughout the process of moving up, Caglianone has had to make a lot of adjustments to find success. He said that one of the biggest lessons that he’s learned is to take it in and learn as much as possible from everyone on the team.
“Honestly just kind of lean on the guys around you,” Caglianone said. “Everybody kind of wants the same end goal at this level, so you’ve got plenty of people to look towards to kind of see what it’s like.”
The long ball is what Caglianone has been known for throughout his college and minor league careers, but the young slugger said he’s willing to do whatever his team needs from him to win.
“I just like to take pride in being able to hit the ball hard,” Caglianone said. “I just want to drive runs in. I want to just help the team. So any way that I can, whether it be a homer or even if they ask me to bunt, I’d do it. At the end of the day, I just want to win. All that stuff’s kind of, I guess, just a bonus.”
Caglianone has passed the test with flying colors at his first two steps. Up next is his greatest challenge yet: major league pitching. The Royals travel to St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals starting on Tuesday. They’ll return to Kansas City for a series against the New York Yankees on June 10.
