The Kansas City Royals are three games over .500, but that’s only good for fourth place in the AL Central. This is a team that could be much higher in the standings if they were in another division, but the Central is bringing it this year. Jac Caglianone continues to rake down in the minors, with Kansas City’s GM commenting on his status as the 22-year-old is performing better than players in the big league.

Royals GM on Jac Caglianone’s Status
After being promoted to AAA this season, Caglianone is hitting .343 with an OPS of 1.151 in his first 35 at-bats. He had 152 at-bats in AA, where he hit .322 with an OPS of 0.947. With basically one-fifth of the at-bats he’s had in AAA compared to AA, Caglianone already has five home runs and 10 RBIs, compared to the nine homers and 43 RBIs he had in AA.
“The hardest part about this for us is we’re trying to do what’s best for the player,” J.J. Picollo said. “That’s ultimately what this is. You want the player to be as prepared as he can when he comes in the major leagues. It’s not fair to any player, whether it’s Jac Caglianone or whoever, when a team may be scuffling offensively to try to put it on him and hope he’s going to come save the day.”
It’s clear that the Royals have high hopes for the lefty as they selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 draft. Jeff Passan added, “Caglianone himself has twice as many home runs as all the Royals’ outfielders put together.” If that isn’t a wake-up call to a fourth-place team, then there isn’t much else to be said.
Passan also added, “In a four-game stretch last week following his promotion to Triple-A, he hit five home runs, nearly as many as Kansas City’s outfield collective has hit all season.”
Not a single player on the Royals roster has hit 10+ home runs this season. The team leader is Vinnie Pasquantino with eight, with Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. adding five each. Even with a team-high eight home runs, Pasquantino has an OPS of 0.698, with Garcia’s 0.839 and Witt Jr. sitting at 0.829. Pasquantino might have the most home runs and be tied for the most RBIs, but his numbers don’t express that.
This team is still in it. They’re above .500 and are only seven games behind the Detroit Tigers. At 37-20, it remains to be seen if the Tigers can sustain this throughout the course of the entire season. Kansas City is just one game behind both the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins, but the Royals have lost five of their last eight games, not helping their chances of closing the distance.