Jac Caglianone’s rise to the Royals has seen him play for six teams in one year
The Florida Gators baseball team beat Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Regional championship game on June 3, 2024.
That’s noteworthy because Gators star Jac Caglianone had two hits that day and improved his on-base streak to 46 straight games. While celebrating Florida’s berth in the College World Series, Caglianone couldn’t have known at the time that exactly one year later, he would make his major-league debut.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Caglianone admitted Tuesday before the Royals faced the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
The Royals noted Caglianone’s debut is the second-fastest by a position player in franchise history, behind only Bo Jackson.
Here’s a closer look at Caglianone’s ascent to the majors over the past year.
July 14, 2024
With the sixth overall pick, the Royals selected Caglianone in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft.
“We were really excited when he got to us,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said Tuesday. “It was very apparent that our scouting department did a great job on him. Brian Bridges did an outstanding job. Nick Presto, who is here, our area scout ...
“They were just so convinced that this guy is going to be a really impactful major-league player. What we didn’t know is: ‘How long is this going to take?’”
We know the answer now: 324 days.
Aug. 6, 2024
After signing with the Royals on July 24, Caglianone made his professional debut with Class A Quad Cities on Aug. 6. Caglianone had a double in four at-bats against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
In 29 games with the River Bandits, Caglianone collected nine doubles, two home runs and 14 RBIs with a .241 batting average. Then it was on to another stop.
Oct. 7, 2024
Caglianone traveled out west and joined the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, where each franchise’s prospects compete against one another.
The Salt River Rafters beat Surprise 3-2 in the Arizona Fall League championship game on Nov. 16, but Caglianone had three hits.
Feb. 17
Although he’d been in the organization for mere months, Caglianone was invited to the Royals’ big-league spring training camp.
“I’d say so far, probably spring training was the most fun, getting to see how the big-leaguers operate and all that was really cool — and share a locker room with them,” Caglianone said before Tuesday’s game.
In 14 Cactus League games, Caglianone batted .500 with three home runs, three doubles and a patriotic 1.776 OPS.
April 4
Caglianone started the 2025 season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
“Getting to Double-A and being with guys more my age,” Caglianone, 22, said of the experience. “With Carter Jensen and (Brett) Squires and (Gavin) Cross and all those guys, guys who I got close with in the Fall League. So building those relationships and competing with them was super fun.”
Caglianone had a .322 batting average with nine homers, eight doubles and 43 RBIs in 38 games with the Naturals. Then he was on the move again.
May 20
Caglianone made his first appearance with Triple-A Omaha after being promoted and, well, his stay with the Storm Chasers was brief.
“I enjoyed Omaha,” Caglianone said, “but I feel like I wasn’t there long enough to kind of get, like, a full (experience).”
But Cags left his mark with six home runs in just 12 games before being promoted to the majors earlier this week.
June 3
Caglianone made his big-league debut in the Royals’ 10-7 win over the Cardinals. He went hitless in five at-bats.
It was the sixth team Caglianone had played for in less than a calendar year: the Florida Gators, Quad City River Bandits, Surprise Saguaros, Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Omaha Storm Chasers and the Royals.
“Dang,” Caglianone said. “That is crazy.”
The good news for Caglianone is he’s with a team that wants to keep him around for quite a while.
But after the insanity of Tuesday’s MLB debut, is he ready to do it all over again?
“Heck yeah,” Caglianone said with a smile. “I’m chilling now.”
