Jac Caglianone's heartwarming reaction to Royals promotion
The post Jac Caglianone's heartwarming reaction to Royals promotion appeared first on ClutchPoints.
The Kansas City Royals are calling up Jac Caglianone, and no matter how highly ranked the prospect may be, nothing beats watching his reaction to learning he's headed to the big leagues.
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Caglianone, who played just 12 games for the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers, got the news from Omaha manager Mike Jirschele, who started off with a little misdirection around why he called Caglianone into his office. After checking to make sure the first base/outfield prospect wasn't worn down, he posed a simple question.
'You feel like you're at the point where you can help them up there?' he asked MLB's No. 10 overall prospect, referring to the Royals.
When Caglianone answered yes, Jirschele told him he is headed to Kansas City.
'Alright, well then you can get on a charter tomorrow night and go with them,' he said.
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After some applause off camera and a 'holy crap' from Caglianone, the two hugged and the 22-year-old lefty said he needed to call his dad.
Between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Omaha, Caglianone has punished opposing pitchers this season. In 50 minor league games, he's slashing 322/.389/.593 with 15 home runs and 56 RBI.
The Royals hope Jac Caglianone can jumpstart a struggling offense
Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
While Caglianone has been raking in the minors, the big league club has been struggling mightily at the plate. Despite being 31-29 and only a game out of the Wild Card, the Royals have scored the second-fewest runs in MLB, ahead of only the historically bad Colorado Rockies.
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Caglianone has played first base and the outfield this season, so manager Matt Quatraro has plenty of options for where to plug him into the lineup.
Probably not coincidentally, the Royals released right fielder Hunter Renfroe and his .483 OPS last week, and Caglianone has started four of his last five games at the position.
The scouting report on Caglianone indicates Kansas City can expect someone with plenty of pop. Three out of Omaha's four longest home runs this season have come off his bat despite him only playing 12 games with the club. He consistently hits the ball hard with 70-grade power, per MLB.
His chase rate is still too high, though it's improving, and his walk rate is still too low. But the thing about rookies is that they get better, and if Caglianone can do that while mashing in Kansas City, the Royals may have found a major piece to their 2025 puzzle.
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