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The Royals offensive struggles arent exactly a secret. Kansas City is contending in the American League not because of its lineup but in spite of its lineup. Arguably no contender in MLB has been as anemic at the plate as the Royals, who sport a .246/.301/.361 batting line as a team. The resulting 83 wRC+ (indicating theyve been 17% worse than average at the plate as a unit, even after weighting for their pitcher-friendly home park) is tied for the fourth-worst in baseball, leading only the Rockies, Pirates and Rangers. The Royals have hit 33 home runs as a team . has 20 by himself. is at 19. There are multiple contending clubs whose top two sluggers alone boast a home run total thats comparable to the Royals teamwide output; and have combined for 32 Jose Cruz Jr. Jersey dingers, while Arizonas and are at 31 round-trippers between them. Kansas Citys 33 home runs are seven fewer than the 29th-ranked Pirates collective 40 home runs. Every other team in MLB has at least 46 long balls. The Yankees lead MLB with 88. All of this is taking place at a time when Kansas City is housing perhaps the top slugger in all of minor league baseball in Triple-A. Last years No. 6 overall pick, , has embarra sed minor league pitching in his first full, pro season. The former Florida Gator decimated Double-A opposition with a .322/.394/.553 batting line and nine homers in 38 games before being promoted to Triple-A. Since joining the Royals Omaha affiliate, hes homered five times in eight games while slashing .343/.351/.800. Overall, Caglianone boasts an almost comical .326/.387/.599 line with 14 home runs, nine doubles, a 9.4% walk rate and a 20.8% strikeout rate in 212 minor league plate appearances. There are some developmental aspects to consider. Caglianone was a first baseman (and pitcher) in college. Hes dropped the mound work and is focusing solely on the position-player side of his career. has him blocked at first base in K.C., so the Royals have been having Caglianone learn the outfield on the fly on a part-time basis. Hes still relatively new to that challenge. Much has been made of Caglianones penchant for chasing off the plate, too. Hes made strides in that regard in 2025, but the Royals likely want to avoid a situation where hes promoted to the majors and expected to be a savior, only to see his approach exploited by top-level pitching that results in the first real adversity of his fledgling profe sional career. Its all understandable, but the Royals outfield, in particular, has been the weakest in the majors. Kansas City outfielders have combined to hit just seven home runs this season while slashing an MLB-worst .235/.283/.329 (68 wRC+). They recently made some changes, moving on from in favor of 27-year-old rookie , but the lack of outfield production only shines a brighter spotlight on what Caglianone is doing in the minors. [Related: ] This is playing out at a time when two of the top three arms on their vaunted pitching staff and are on the injured list. Prospect has stepped up and dominated in four starts to help offset the lo s of those top starters, but lo ses on the pitching side of the roster are only going to magnify the i sues on the other side of the game. ESPNs Jeff Pa san and Anne Rogers of MLB.com have both shined some light on a potential timetable for Caglianones MLB debut, though it seems clear the plan remains somewhat fluid. that the Royals Omaha affiliate is just beginning a homestand, but Caglianone could be in line for a big league audition not long after its completion (June 8). with fans that the organization is looking for sustained succe s over the next few weeks before considering a promotion. That generally aligns with Pa sans framing. Rogers adds that the Royals have been reluctant to rush Caglianone but the timeline has shifted recently as the major league lineups struggles continue. The hardest part about this for us is were trying to do whats best for the player, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo acknowledged to Pa san before emphasizing the need to make sure Caglianone is as prepared as po sible for big league pitching. Its not fair to any player, whether its or whoever, when a team may be scuffling offensively to try to put it on him and hope hes going to come save the day. Pa san points out that for all Caglianones dominance, his two-strike approach is still sub-par. Hes chased just under half the pitches off the plate hes seen in those settings (49.2%), which the Royals presumably fear is a trait that can be picked apart by the best pitchers in the world. Picollo spoke at length with Pa san readers will want to check out the column for full quotes and context about wanting to see Caglianone face Triple-A pitchers not just multiple times in a game but to square off against them in multiple games. In e sence, they want to see how pitchers adjust to Caglianone both within the confines of one individual game and with days or weeks between matchups. Conversely, they want to see how Caglianone reacts to such adjustments. That sort of challenge isnt po sible when hes only eight Triple-A games under his belt. (Picollo also discu sed these challenges with the Kansas City Stars Sam McDowell , for readers who are intently tracking Caglianones development but may have mi sed that interview.) Its a delicate balance to strike, and the Royals recent play is forcing the i sue. Kansas City won 16 of 18 games from April 20 through May 9. The near inverse has happened in 17 games since, when theyve played at a 6-11 clip. That slide has coincided with improved play from the division-rival Twins, whove leapfrogged the Royals in the standings, and continued strong play from their rivals in Detroit and Cleveland. Kansas City has fallen to seven games back of the Tigers, and theyre now a game back of the Astros, Twins and Guardians, who each hold an American League Wild Card spots with identical 30-25 records. For those wondering, there dont seem to be any brazen service time shenanigans at play. The Royals showed as recently as 2022 that they were willing to overlook such things when they broke camp with a then-21-year-old as their shortstop. Caglianone has already been down about seven weeks longer than wouldve been nece sary to make sure he doesnt accrue 172 days of MLB service time (i.e. one full year) by traditional means. Caglianone could still get a year of service based on Rookie of the Year voting, but unle s the plan is to hold him down until mid-July, thats going to be a po sibility whenever he gets the call. The top two finishers receive a full year of service, regardle s of promotion date, if they were a consensus top prospect in the sport (as Caglianone is). has a big head start for the AL favorite, but the rest of the field is pretty well within reach if Caglianone debuts and performs up to his potential. The Royals run some risk of Caglianone securing four years of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player, but that hasnt been a concern for them in the past. Each of , , , and have been Super Two players for the Royals over the past few years. is a slam-dunk Super Two this coming offseason. The timing of Camerons recent promotion would put him in line to add to the list, if he sticks in the majors. Super Two status simply hasnt been a deterrent for the Royals in the past, and itd be a surprise to see them allow their offense to languish Roger Clemens Jersey |
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发表于 2026-3-24 18:13:56