Caglianone finds clarity during injury and reset 

This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers' Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CLEVELAND -- Less than a week after Jac Caglianone strained his left hamstring on July 26, the Royals left town for a three-city, 10-day road trip through Toronto, Boston and Minneapolis. Caglianone was stuck in Kansas City, stuck on his couch every night watching the games after his rehab work was over for the day.

He was locked into every game, though. It was part of his homework.

“My fiancée is on a needlepoint kick right now, so she’d be doing that,” Caglianone explained. “So I’d be talking to myself, because she would just respond with, ‘Yeah, uh-huh.' And I was like, ‘You have no idea what I’m saying.’ But I used her as a soundboard. I’d talk through ABs. I was honestly thinking about it like a pitcher, about how they would attack a hitter.

“Trying to get better about studying the game rather than thinking it’ll just happen.”

This was a huge part of Caglianone’s recovery process: Finding ways to improve following a tough first stint in the Major Leagues. After mashing in the Minors and forcing his way onto the roster by June, the 22-year-old Caglianone slashed .147/.205/.280 with five homers, a 21% strikeout percentage and just a 5% walk percentage in Kansas City before his injury. It was a tough start for the Royals’ top prospect and the No. 6 pick in the 2024 Draft out of Florida.

Coaches encouraged Caglianone to use the IL time to get healthy and mentally reset, focusing on his approach that led to pitchers exposing his weaknesses in the big leagues, many of which revolved around chasing offspeed stuff. The work started by watching the games, then moved into the cage.

It continued when Caglianone went on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Omaha.

“I kind of started searching a good bit in my first go-around up here,” Caglianone said. “I got to a point where I was like, ‘I don’t remember what I did well.’ So using those three weeks on the rehab to kind of find that again, just say, ‘Let’s just reset.’”

In 16 rehab games, Caglianone hit .385 with five homers. The performance made it clear he needs the challenge of Major League pitching to blossom into the power-hitting middle-of-the-order player the Royals envision as part of their future.

He returned to Kansas City on Sept. 2, understanding that not all hits in Triple-A are hits in the Major Leagues.

“You have the luxury in Triple-A where you're probably going to get two cookies every AB,” Caglianone said. “If you miss the first one, you’ll get another. Up here, they’re not going to make a bunch of mistakes. If you get one up here, and you foul it off, it’s like, ‘OK, now we really got to grind this out.’ I know that now.”

Caglianone has appeared in seven games since his return, going 3-for-17 but working five walks to help his .364 OBP. One of those walks was on 13 pitches on Sunday against Twins reliever Justin Topa. Another was eight pitches on Monday against Guardians starter Slade Cecconi. The latest was Wednesday, working a left-on-left walk with one out in the seventh inning against reliever Tim Herrin to start the rally that eventually won the game for the Royals.

“He’s controlled the zone much better,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “That was his goal going down there, was to understand himself a little bit better, understand what pitchers were trying to do to him and not just try to swing his way out of situations or what he perceived to be struggles.”

There are still plenty of things he’s working on, but when Caglianone was asked if he feels different in the box, he responded quickly.

“Yes,” Caglianone said, nodding. “I feel like it’s slowed down so much now.”

His teammates agree.

“Since he’s come back, he looks a lot more relaxed,” Vinnie Pasquantino said. “He’s not swinging out of his shoes all the time. Which is still part of his game, right? But he’s taking more walks since he’s been back, so it’s been good to see.”

The learning curve comes for every young hitter. And Caglianone has learned a lot in his first full season of pro ball, a fact not lost on him but one that he doesn’t want to dwell on too much.

“I do [realize that], but I also just hate that being an excuse,” Caglianone said. “It’s definitely like, ‘Damn, a lot has happened in a year.’ But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“People are like, ‘Oh, do you think you should develop in Triple-A?’ No, I don’t really think that’ll do me any good. I felt comfortable in Triple-A. Now it’s about figuring it out up here and just sticking to knowing what I do well. That’s what I got back to during the rehab stint.”