What's the Royals' plan for Caglianone?

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KANSAS CITY -- The question about when to bring Jac Caglianone to the Major Leagues is circling again. Only this time, the circumstances are way different.

The Royals' rookie outfielder/first baseman is on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha after suffering a left hamstring strain on July 26 and landing on the 10-day injured list a day later. He joined Omaha Tuesday and played in five games there last week, with Monday being an off-day around the Minor Leagues.

Once again, Caglianone is on a Triple-A tear, having gone 11-for-20 (.550) with two home runs, four doubles, four RBIs, two walks and a strikeout.

If he’s checking all the boxes physically with his hamstring, he seems ready to get back to the big leagues, then, right?

It’s not quite so simple.

“We didn’t set out a certain timeline,” manager Matt Quatraro said early last week. “We told him, ‘Just go down there and play. Just because you get a few hits doesn’t mean you’re coming back the next day, and if you don’t get any hits, doesn’t mean you’re never coming back.’ We just wanted him to get back on his feet. The hits [are] a good sign, but also being able to run the bases, and be in the field and put some volume back on his body.”

It’s no secret that Caglianone struggled with Kansas City before he got hurt, posting a .147/.205/.280 slash line with five homers, 10 RBIs and a 21.1% strikeout percentage compared to a 5% walk percentage. He needed everyday at-bats as a young player the Royals view as part of their future core, but it was getting to the point where he needed a reset.

The rehab assignment allows Caglianone to work back up to full health and to attack the areas of weakness exposed in the big leagues. Position players can be on a rehab assignment for a maximum of 20 days, and Caglianone’s 20-day limit lines up with Sept. 1, which just so happens to be when rosters expand to 28 players.

The evaluation process for when he’s ready will be similar to how the Royals determined whether he was ready the first time with the added knowledge of what he struggled with in the big leagues between June and July.

“We talked about simplifying his process, not letting his head get to too many different places and really just go into the game focused on competing with the pitcher,” Quatraro said. “... Not every hit is created equal, too. We have to be objective with, ‘Is that going to be a hit here based on defensive positioning? Would that play have been made?’ We’re going to factor all those things in. Who's the quality of pitching you’re facing?”

The Royals’ roster construction now will play a big part in Caglianone’s return. It’s a vastly different team than when he was on the active roster; they traded for Randal Grichuk the very night Caglianone got hurt, and they added Mike Yastrzemski at the Trade Deadline. The right-handed Grichuk and left-handed Yastrzemski have been, for the most part, platooning in right field, with Yastrzemski playing a large role as the leadoff hitter against right-handed pitchers. Adding Caglianone, another left-handed bat, back into the mix could lead to some roster redundancy, but Caglianone is a power bat who will need at-bats if he’s up here.

“When we add a guy like Yaz, who’s going to play a lot, as a left-handed hitter, that certainly changes things,” Quatraro said. “That doesn’t change how we feel about Jac or his ability or what we think he’s going to do moving forward. But in the moment, right this minute, the 26-man roster has changed in a big way. We would hope that he crushes his rehab assignment, and when the opportunity is there, he’s ready to come back.”

The Royals also have to think about their two other hitters on a rehab assignment in Mark Canha (left elbow epicondylitis) and Michael Massey (left ankle sprain, right wrist injury and back tightness). Canha would have to come back by Aug. 28, Massey by Aug. 29, per the 20-day maximum rule.

That’s all going to lead to a lot of decisions the Royals must make in the next two weeks. Constructing the best roster to help them win games and stay in the playoff race will be what drives those decisions.

“The team dynamic here has changed since he got hurt,” Quatraro said. “He’s going to have to keep playing, and when something opens up, he’s certainly in consideration to come back.”