Why the buzz over Jac Caglianone? He once hit a ball 120.9 mph, showing the type of power the Royals desperately need

First things first: it’s pronounced cag-lee-OHN. Not cag-lee-ah-NOHN.

That’s important to know because there’s a strong chance Jac Caglianone is about to become a pretty big deal.

The Royals’ top prospect is set to make his Major League debut on Tuesday, just 324 days after Kansas City selected the University of Florida product with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Raised in Tampa, Caglianone attended H.B. Plant High School, the same program that produced Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso. An elbow injury steered Caglianone to Florida, where he blossomed into one of the most dynamic college players of the century. During his draft year in Gainesville, “Cags” slashed a ridiculous .419/.544/.875 with 35 long balls.

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In the time since, Caglianone has rocketed up the minor league ladder while rocketing baseballs with elite exit velocities. After impressing in big league spring training, the 6-foot-5 left-hander posted a .322/.389/.593 line with 15 homers across 50 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. That all came as Caglianone, who played first and pitched in college, was learning the outfield for the first time.

Here’s everything you need to know about the young slugger.

Why is he a big deal?

Put simply: he hits the baseball really, really, really hard.

Earlier this minor league season, Caglianone laced an opposite field single at 120.9 miles per hour. That top-of-the-scales juice puts him in rarified air. Only six players in the Statcast Era (since 2017) have hit a ball that firmly: Giancarlo Stanton, Oneil Cruz, Gary Sánchez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ronald Acuña Jr. and Aaron Judge.

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That’s the offensive ceiling we’re talking about here, which is remarkable considering that Caglianone was a full-time two-way player in college.

So why isn’t he the top prospect in baseball?

Heading into spring training, public prospect lists, on average, had Caglianone slotted around No. 40. Granted, that was before Cags impressed in spring training and before he obliterated minor league pitching for the better part of two months. But still, this is a player with multiple warts.

Coming out of college, Caglianone was considered to be a high-risk prospect, in large part because he chased so much. His out-of-zone swing rates at Florida were just below the 40 percent mark, a red-flag figure that had many teams concerned about how Caglianone would adjust to better pitching in pro ball.

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But pro reps and a slight mechanical adjustment have allowed Cags to push that chase rate down to a still-high, but not panic-inducing mark of 34 percent. That would be around the 87th percentile of qualified MLB hitters this season, near some superstars (Bryce Harper, Corbin Carroll) and some chase-happy scufflers (Keibert Ruiz, Trevor Story). Another name in that range, young Rays starlet Junior Caminero, feels like an interesting comp for what Caglianone’s offensive profile could look like this season.

Defense is the other major reason that Caglianone has not been considered a top-shelf prospect. When he wasn’t pitching at Florida, Cags was DHing or playing first base. Because the Royals have something of a DH/1B log jam (Vinnie Pasquantino/Salvador Perez), Caglianone saw the majority of his time in the outfield this season and should be out in the grass a lot in the bigs.

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He’s still a work in progress in both spots, but the bat has such potential and the Royals’ offense has been so dreary that the club had no choice but to promote Cags right now. He’s fast and athletic enough that Caglianone shouldn’t be a total butcher in an outfield corner, but don’t expect any Gold Gloves from him either.

Hey, wait. Wasn’t this guy a two-way player?

He was! But not anymore, sadly.

Caglianone’s two-way exploits at Florida helped him cross over into the larger baseball consciousness in a way that few college players do. For instance: In 2023, during his sophomore season, people started calling him “Jac-tani” in a not-so-subtle reference to the Japanese superstar.

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Not many living beings can throw a baseball 99 miles per hour with their left hand; only 24 big leaguers have done that since the start of 2024. Even fewer can hit a baseball 119 miles per hour; only four souls — Cruz, Stanton, Guerrero Jr and Shohei Ohtani — have done so over that same span.

Caglianone was, preposterously, doing both. As a college student.

And yet, as the Gator superstar continued to drop jaws on both sides of the ball during his junior year, talent evaluators were beginning to realize that Caglianone’s pro future was almost certainly going to be in the batter’s box. The eye-popping velocity led to an impressive dossier of pitching highlights, yes, but the rest of his on-mound profile — secondary stuff, repeatability, command, control, fastball shape — left much to be desired.

So even though the Royals announced Caglianone as a two-way player when they selected him last July, it was an open secret in the industry that Kansas City would develop him exclusively as a hitter.

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So far, that’s paid off big time.

Because they can’t hit.

Coming off an invigorating postseason campaign in 2024, this year’s Royals have stagnated somewhat. It’s been more treading water than massive cannonballs off the high dive as Kansas City’s offense ranks near the bottom in most categories. The Royals are last in home runs, last in walk rate, third to last in runs scored and fifth to last in OPS.

Only two hitters — reigning MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. and third baseman Maikel Garcia — have an OPS+ above league average. Pasquantino has been much better recently after a rough start, but all the secondary pieces, like Michael Massey, Jonathan India and Drew Waters, have underwhelmed. Most concerning has been the steep fall-off from franchise icon Salvador Perez, who has gone from an All-Star a year ago to a bottom-20 qualified hitter in baseball.

The Royals’ stellar pitching and defense has kept this team in the mix. Heading into play on Tuesday, they are 31-29, one game out of a wild-card spot. But this lineup needs a jolt. Caglianone should help.