Former Royals star Eric Hosmer raves about Jac Caglianone’s future in Kansas City
The highly touted Royals prospect drew rave revues for his work in big-league spring training camp, despite being in his early 20s.
One newspaper writer said the former first-round pick would have made the opening-day roster if the decision had been based solely on the player’s ability as a hitter.
That was in 2011, and Eric Hosmer’s wait to reach the big leagues wasn’t long.
Hosmer was called up by the Royals in early May and the front page of The Kansas City Star’s sports section trumpeted the news with a huge headline that read: “You’re up kid!”
Hosmer would help the Royals to the World Series just three years later, and in 2015, they won the Fall Classic.
Because of his experience of being a top prospect, Hosmer is uniquely positioned to share his thoughts on Jac Caglianone.
Royals fans were disappointed Monday when the team moved Caglianone from major-league camp. This spring, he had an absurd 1.872 OPS with a .529 average, three home runs and three doubles in 13 games.
Beyond that were eye-opening stats like this from Baseball America.
Caglianone, who was the Royals first-round pick a year ago, seems to have a bright future in baseball, even though he is just 22 years old. Hosmer shared his thoughts on Caglianone’s future in an X post.
Hosmer started by noting that Caglianone played in the College World Series a year ago, then was drafted, played in the minors and the Arizona Fall League before getting the invite to spring training.
“All this combined with the Royals offseason program!” Hosmer wrote of Caglianone, who will start the season at Double-A. “Cags validates that he’s got big league tools, he’s seen the big leaguers work and how to take his routine & preparation to the next level! No more doubt for Cags as far as wondering what it takes, blueprints laid out young stud! Now we go!”
That’s high praise from a World Series champion.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 9:22 AM.
