Royals' No. 1 Prospect Makes Declaration About Red Sox's Roman Anthony
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Sometimes, it takes a top prospect to know a top prospect.
Jac Caglianone is the runaway top prospect in the Kansas City Royals' system right now. The 6-foot-5 first baseman has been one of the viral stars of Minor League Baseball this season, routinely hitting tape-measure home runs for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
A first-round pick in the 2024 draft, Caglianone could very well appear in the big leagues at some point this season. But he's not considered a candidate for the title of "number-one prospect in baseball" by most experts.
Appropriately enough, Caglianone himself was asked recently who he considered to be the top prospect in the minors, and he went with a consensus answer--outfielder Roman Anthony of the Boston Red Sox.
"I'd have to go with Roman Anthony," Caglianone said (via MiLB on TikTok). "He rakes. He's a good friend of mine and I love watching him play."
Anthony, who is still only 20, is the number-one prospect in MLB Pipeline's current overall rankings. He's got a .305/.419/.514 slash line in 29 games at Triple-A this season, and he's barreling the ball at a rate matched only by big-league stars like Aaron Judge.
Caglianone could easily be in the conversation himself, especially based on pure power upside. He's hitting .314 with a .938 OPS in 27 games so far at Double-A, but it's his plus-plus exit velocities that have captured the attention of Royals fans and neutral observers alike.
Still, there's no denying that Anthony is a little ahead of Caglianone in his development right now, and will probably be impacting games for the Red Sox by the summer. But Caglianone might now be far behind, and the two friends could quickly become friendly rivals if both teams are in the playoff hunt.
More MLB: Royals GM Hints At Promotion Timeline For No. 1 Prospect Jac Caglianone
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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