Royals Superstar Prospect 'Looks Gassed' During Disappointing Debut, Says Insider
The Kansas City Royals don't have many highly-rated prospects at the moment. It is imperative that their consensus number-one farmhand becomes a star.
Though they had a wildly successful 2024 season, the Royals are still nowhere near where they want to be. The offense struggled mightily in the postseason, showing an obvious lack of depth, and the pitching staff is by no means a finished product, either.
As luck would have it, the Royals' first-round pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft could one day help both the lineup and the pitching staff. But the young phenom's debut in professional baseball hasn't quite gone according to plan.
Jac Caglianone, the power-hitting first baseman and flamethrowing left-handed pitcher, was the Royals' prize selection after his magical season at Florida. But Caglianone struggled in his High-A debut, then moved on to the Arizona Fall League, where he is once again falling on hard times.
Keith Law of the Athletic, a top prospect evaluator who is attending AFL games, seems to believe being in Arizona is doing Caglianone no good at this point.
"Caglianone, the sixth pick in the MLB Draft this July, played a full college season for Florida, through the College World Series, and then played another 29 games after he signed. He’s been going since mid-February, and he looks gassed," Law said.
"He’s struck out 11 times in 37 PA at this writing with a .229/.243/.286 line, striking out three times on sliders in front of me and once on a fastball. This isn’t who he is, and other than a really nice play at first base to start a 3-6 double play, I feel like he’s not getting anything from these reps."
At 21 years old, Caglianone is playing far more competitive baseball games in 2024 than he would have had the chance to in any other year of his young career. Couple that with traveling all over the country, jumping from league to league, and adjusting to the professional mindset, and it's easy to see how the young star could be worn out.
At a certain point, the Royals may have to consider pulling Caglianone from the AFL if he continues showing signs of fatigue. His future is the important part of the equation, not his stats in an ultimately meaningless showcase league.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org