Minor League Baseball

Kansas City Royals' Future Star Now Leading Minor Leagues in Impressive Category

Jac Caglianone, who was the No. 6 pick in the MLB Draft last season, is barreling toward a potential call-up in the midst of a playoff race.
Brady Farkas|
Kansas City Royals first round draft pick Jac Caglianone poses with his mother Johanne Caglianone for photos on the field prior to a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Kauffman Stadium in 2024.
Kansas City Royals first round draft pick Jac Caglianone poses with his mother Johanne Caglianone for photos on the field prior to a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Kauffman Stadium in 2024. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

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Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals' top prospect Jac Caglianone is now leading the minor leagues in RBIs with 50 after another big game on Saturday for Triple-A Omaha.

The No. 6 overall draft choice just last season out of Florida, Caglianone is now the No. 10 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. His home run on Saturday came off the bat at 107 mph. In addition to his run-producing ability, he's also hitting .318 across Double-A and Triple-A.

The Royals enter play on Sunday at 28-25 and in fourth place in the American League Central, but they figure to be in the playoff race until the end. As a result, Caglianone could find himself called up sooner rather than later in order to help impact that playoff race. The Royals got to the playoffs last season, falling to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.

The following comes from a portion of his 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.

At the big-league level, the Royals will take on the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at 2:10 p.m. ET. It's unclear how long Caglianone will need to wait for his major league call-up, but recent reports have indicated it might not be long.

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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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