Royals’ Jac Caglianone was part of a star-studded draft. So was this KC opponent
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- Kansas City Royals’ Jac Caglianone, sixth pick, is a regular starter and batting .248.
- Travis Bazzana debuted April 28 and has a .345 OBP in his first seven games
- Caglianone and Bazzana, 23, have a mutual respect and exchanged cards.
The 2024 MLB Draft class has already produced several budding stars growing into their professional careers.
The Kansas City Royals selected their young star Jac Caglianone with the sixth overall pick, and he’s already showing why he was so highly rated.
The first overall pick, Travis Bazzana, was selected by the Cleveland Guardians and made his MLB debut on April 28. Ahead of his third series at the top level of baseball, Bazzana had Caglianone as a Kauffman Stadium tour guide upon his arrival.
The duo, who were the covers of the 2024 Bowman Draft cards, also swapped baseball cards. Caglianone is an avid baseball card enthusiast.
Caglianone’s Florida Gators never faced Bazzana’s Oregon State Beavers in college, but the two share a connection as some of the top players to come out of the productive draft class.
“We’ve always had a lot of mutual respect for each other,” Bazzana told The Star.
Bazzana, 23, is the first Australian-born player and first second baseman to be the top pick in the MLB Draft. He came into the season as Cleveland’s top prospect (ranked 16th overall by MLB Pipeline) and played in the World Baseball Classic for Australia.
“Obviously I’d seen a lot of him in college, and he’s seen a lot of me,” Bazzana said, “and then we both kind of were in talks in the first couple picks in the draft for a while in ‘24. Jac and I have a good relationship, and hope to build on that. I mean, he’s a great guy.”
The respect is mutual, with Caglianone marvelling at Bazzana’s abilities as a middle infielder.
“The speed, the power, the defensiveness, the defensive side of things. He’s a really well-rounded player, so it’s fun to watch him,” Caglianone said. “He plays with that, like, college energy, too, so like stuff that you like to see. But he’s also a really good dude. So being able to see him, catch up with him a little bit these past couple days has been cool.”
Caglianone, 23, has an obvious headstart on Bazzana’s experience.
He is firmly in the starting lineup in right field for the Royals in his second MLB season and played for Italy in the WBC. He’s batting .248 and riding a hot streak the last few weeks, hitting safely in 14 of 20 games since April 10. His fourth home run of the season was a solo shot against the Guardians on Monday, his only hit of the four-game series so far.
Bazzana has four hits in his first seven games as a rookie, sporting a .174 batting average. He does have a .345 on-base percentage and .519 OPS with six walks, two RBIs and two stolen bases.
The two started the first two games of the series, where the Royals bested the Guardians. They both got a rest day Wednesday.
The 2024 draft class has already had memorable call-ups like Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Chase Burns, A’s 2025 Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz and Pittsburgh Pirates rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin, who got a record-breaking $140 million extension a week after his debut.
Looking back just two years is a whirlwind for Caglianone.
“There’s a lot of guys from the ‘24 draft that are doing great,” he said. “Lot of quick call-ups, which is huge. Being able to know those guys beforehand and see their career kind of progress and everything has been sick.”
If Caglianone and Bazzana perform like they and their organizations expect, they could possibly see an extension of similar magnitude and be the faces of the division. But they know the process to get there is a daily grind, and they’re only scratching the surface.
“Keep learning from mistakes, keep building on the strengths that have got you here and also make you successful out there day to day,” Bazzana said.
“Just keep building on those things and understand that if you can be out here 160 days a year, we have the skills and the tools to be successful big leaguers. And just keep building on those over time. I’m sure we’ll bring some ... success to the AL Central for a long time.”
