Royals GM emphasized improving an old-school stat, and KC did so in St. Louis
Roughly three hours before the Royals opened a three-game series Tuesday in St. Louis, KC general manager J.J. Picollo met with the media to discuss the promotion of outfielder Jac Caglianone.
The Royals had managed just one run in their previous two games and were last in baseball in runs scored. They had scored five runs or more just 10 times in 60 games.
I asked Picollo if Caglianone’s presence could benefit others in the Royals lineup, and the Royals general manager talked about the most important statistic to him. It’s an old-school stat that’s not often discussed in this era of advanced metrics.
“I think it helps the whole team,” Picollo said of Caglianone’s presence. “I mean, it’s an opportunity for RBIs, those guys getting on base. You know, this game is about RBIs. We like to talk about hard-hit (rate) and chase and swing and miss, and that’s all a factor, but the game’s about how many runs you score.
“That’s ultimately what allows you to win or lose. So the more RBI opportunities we have with the right guys up, the better chance we have to score more runs.”
It’s a small sample size, but in the Royals’ series win at Busch Stadium, they scored five runs or more in each game. And their 22 runs scored were the most in a three-game stretch this season.
While Caglianone had just one hit — an RBI double — in the three games, the Royals offense was much better in St. Louis.
The Royals changed the lineup with Caglianone’s arrival, and the runs soon followed.
Jonathan India is leading off, followed by Bobby Witt Jr., as has been the case most of the season. But Maikel Garcia moved up to third, followed by Vinnie Pasquantino in the cleanup spot and then Salvador Perez.
Caglianone has batted sixth.
“We’ve got what we call our action players and speed players at the top,” Picollo said. “Jonathan’s getting on base. You know, Bobby and Maikel at times last year, when they were back to back, it was pretty explosive, and it was another way to score runs. So you get the more athletic group in the front, and then you put the guys in the middle of the order that we consider run producers.
“And hopefully two guys get on and Jac can come up, he hits a double, or whatever it is, and you score the two runs. And then the bottom of the lineup is very important as well, and there’s athleticism at the bottom of the lineup. So we’re trying to just create pockets of offense that match. We’ll evaluate how that goes. None of us have a crystal ball.”
If Picollo had a crystal ball while sitting in the visitor’s dugout at Busch Stadium, he would have been pleased with how the offense produced this week, especially with all those RBIs.
This story was originally published June 6, 2025 at 9:54 AM.
