Royals' No. 1 Prospect Leaves Door Open For Shohei Ohtani-Like Feat
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The Kansas City Royals may never get the chance to sign Shohei Ohtani, but they did draft a player with Ohtani-like abilities last season.
Top Royals prospect Jac Caglianone has been turning heads during spring training with his light tower power, with three home runs in just 11 at-bats so far. But it wasn't only his bat doing the talking when he was originially drafted out of the University of Florida.
Caglianone, a 6-foot-5 lefty, can throw a 99-mile-per-hour fastball. He struck out 170 batters in 148 1/3 career innings at Florida, though he also walked 105 and had an ERA of 4.55.
Since his debut in the minor leagues, Caglianone has thus far stuck to hitting only. The Royals invited him to big-league camp in his first full season with the expectation that he would concentrate on first base, and he may even have a chance to debut in the big leagues at some point this season.
However, the allure of having a two-way player will linger in the minds of Royals fans for at least a couple more seasons. And during a Monday appearance on the Diggin' Deep podcast, Caglianone didn't rule out a return to the mound at some point during his pro career.
"I'm not gonna say it's completely out of the equation at all," Caglianone said. "But it's one of those things where, going into your first big-league spring training, you just kind of need to focus on one thing."
"I've still been long tossing, and throwing my change-ups and cutter, just in case, just to be ready, you know? Whenever they're like, 'Hey, you ready to go?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I've been waiting for this one.'"
Caglianone got off to a slow start at the plate in his 29-game cameo in High-A last summer, putting up just a .690 OPS in 29 games. He gradually heated up during his time in the Arizona Fall League, and now he's been putting on a show for baseball fans in spring training, likely setting himself up for a debut at Double-A to begin the regular season.
Whether or not they ever see him take the mound at Kauffman Stadium, Royals fans couldn't be more excited for Caglianone's future. This year will tell whether the future is already leaking over into the present.
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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
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