Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone promoted to Triple-A Omaha

New York Times

19-05-2025

Kansas City Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone is one step closer to making his major-league debut. After starting his season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Caglianone is joining the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers.
Welcome to Omaha, Jac ‼️
Top Royals prospect Jac Caglianone is the newest Storm Chaser!
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— Omaha Storm Chasers (@omahastormchasers.bsky.social) May 18, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Caglianone, the No. 6 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft after starring as a two-way player for Florida, hit .322/.394/.553 with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 38 games for the Naturals. The 22-year-old has been used exclusively as a position player so far this year, logging most of his time at first base but also appearing in seven games in the corner outfield spots, six of them in right field. He came into this season ranked No. 60 in Keith Law's preseason top 100 MLB prospects list but has significantly improved over his pro debut in 2024, when he hit .241/.302/.388 in 29 games for High-A Quad Cities and .236/.300/.449 in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League. Law believes it's only a matter of time before Caglianone gets the call to the big leagues.
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Law notes that Caglianone has made significant changes since last season.
'Caglianone has seen some structural changes. He's not pitching any more, which is fantastic for letting him focus on hitting, and he's playing right field now, which hasn't been a challenge so far and makes better use of his athleticism — but he's also tightened up his approach at the plate just enough that he's become a much more dangerous hitter already,' Law said.
'He's chasing stuff out of the zone a little less often and it's driving these improved results even against better-quality pitching. He's always had the elite, grade-80 (on a 20-80 scouting scale) power, but he's hitting more and that's going to mean more light-tower homers in games.'
Caglianone is likely to make his Triple-A debut in Salt Lake City on Tuesday when the Storm Chasers begin their six-game series against the Bees.
Caglianone was arguably the most well-known player in last year's MLB Draft class after a standout three-year career at Florida that saw him hit .355/.447/.760 with 75 homers in 165 games and make 34 starts, posting a 5.10 ERA with 170 strikeouts in 148 innings. The Gators reached the College World Series in each of the last two seasons.
The 6-foot-5 left-handed hitter and thrower could be a dangerous addition to the middle of the Royals' lineup later this year. Kansas City is currently last in the major leagues in home runs and 27th in baseball in runs scored. Despite their offensive struggles and dealing with injuries to their starting rotation with Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans currently on the injured list, the Royals are 26-22, 5 1/2 games back of the first-place Detroit Tigers in the competitive American League Central but currently tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the second wild-card spot.