Minor League Baseball

Jac Caglianone Continues Stellar Start to 2025 Season, Now Leads League in Major Category

Caglianone, the No. 20 prospect in baseball and the crown jewel of the Kansas City Royals' system, has 23 RBIs to pace the Texas League.
Brady Farkas|
Kansas City Royals first round draft pick Jac Caglianone poses with his sister Samantha Caglianone for photos on the field prior to a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Kauffman Stadium on July 24, 2024.
Kansas City Royals first round draft pick Jac Caglianone poses with his sister Samantha Caglianone for photos on the field prior to a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Kauffman Stadium on July 24, 2024. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

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Kansas City Royals

Noah Cameron wasn't the only Kansas City Royals prospect that was generating attention on Wednesday night. While Cameron was firing 6.1 scoreless innings for the big-league club, once again, Jac Caglianone was turning heads with a big performance for Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

Caglianone, the No. 20 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI as the Naturals beat the Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals). He now leads the Texas League in RBIs with 23 entering play on Thursday.

One of the most exciting prospects in baseball, Caglianone was the No. 6 pick in the MLB Draft last year. He helped lead the University of Florida to the College World Series in 2024 and was the John Olerud winner as the nation's best two-way player.

He's hitting .295 with four home runs and a stolen base, and he's running an on-base percentage of .375. He's predicted to make his major league debut in 2026, but the Royals could fast-track him if he continues to develop and if they need a bat for the playoff stretch.

Kansas City enters play on Thursday at 16-15 overall. They are finishing up a series with the Rays on Thursday afternoon before a weekend series at the Baltimore Orioles.

The following comes from a portion of Caglianone's MLB.com prospect profile:

Caglianone’s power was arguably the best in the 2024 Draft class. The left-handed slugger maxed out with a 121.7 mph exit velocity as a junior and didn’t stop there with a 117.3 mph max EV in the Fall League, second-best among batted balls measured by Statcast. That comes from Caglianone’s major strength at 6-foot-5 and the long levers that come with such a frame. He significantly cut his swing-and-miss rate in college in ’24, but he also swung a ton in general with a 39 percent chase rate. That was down only a touch in the Fall League, and more advanced arms will be able to take advantage if Caglianone can’t rein in his approach.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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