Caglianone arrives in Triple-A, promptly brings the boom

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.

MINNEAPOLIS -- To describe the home run tear that Jac Caglianone is on right now, let’s just list out the numbers:

• Thursday: 113.6 mph, 410 feet
• Friday: 111.6 mph, 441 feet
• Saturday: 107 mph, no official distance (a Statcast-defying homer, as it launched high over the outfield berm at The Ballpark at America First Square in Salt Lake)
• Sunday: 108.6 mph, 459 feet in the first inning, and then 107.6 mph, 364 feet in the 10th

Yes, that’s five home runs over four consecutive games for Caglianone, who has played one full series at the Triple-A level -- six total games -- and hasn’t seemed to slow down at all after the jump from Double-A. His weeklong slash line in Triple-A was .346/.357/.923, bringing his season totals to .326/.389/.607. Triple-A Salt Lake pitchers kept throwing Caglianone strikes last week, and he kept pummeling them.

All season, fans have been clamoring for the top Royals prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 overall prospect to be called up to the big leagues. It’s not hard to imagine Caglianone’s monster power splashing home runs into the fountains at Kauffman Stadium, especially with the Royals’ offense entering Monday averaging 3.3 runs per game this season.

And there’s a clear spot for him now, too. When the Royals designated Hunter Renfroe for assignment on Friday, right field became a little less clogged. Caglianone began working in right field last month when he was in Double-A and has continued that work in Triple-A in anticipation of the outfield being his clearest path to the big leagues.

While the Royals begin to think about how Caglianone fits on their roster, the club's stance on its best prospect since Bobby Witt Jr. hasn’t changed.

He’s in Triple-A to settle in and continue developing -- for now.

“The Jac Caglianone situation is totally different [than this one],” general manager J.J. Picollo said on Friday when discussing the Renfroe move. “Jac will come to the Major Leagues whenever he’s ready to contribute to the Major Leagues.”

Drew Waters, Mark Canha, Dairon Blanco and John Rave (who was just called up to the Majors with Cavan Biggio being optioned to Triple-A) will all get at-bats in right field. With Renfroe gone, the Royals brought utilityman Nick Loftin up for an extended look on the roster, and are giving Rave -- who had a .931 OPS in Triple-A this season -- an opportunity after spending parts of four seasons in Triple-A. Infielder Cam Devanney, who has a 1.000 OPS in Triple-A this year, might warrant consideration in the near future, too.

“We’re just not there,” Picollo said of Caglianone’s timeline. “In fairness to him -- things are happening fast. So no ties between the two [situations].”

That doesn’t mean it won’t happen this season or in the summer months. The Royals gave Caglianone a month in Double-A before, as Picollo said, he “beat the level” and drove up to Omaha. When he shows that in Triple-A -- six games is a very small sample size, after all -- Kansas City is just a three-hour drive from Omaha.

In the meantime, Caglianone will continue to learn the corner outfield. The reports have been positive when he plays on the grass so far this year, and he’s enjoying learning the position, with the help of longtime coach Rusty Kuntz.

“At first base, obviously you’re locked in every pitch,” Caglianone told MLB Pipeline reporter Jesse Borek last week. “In the outfield, even if there's a ball not hit to you, you’ve got to back someone up, you’ve got to know where you’re going. And I feel pretty comfortable out there. I feel like it's getting to be second nature at this point.”

Caglianone admits he hears the noise about reaching the big leagues and says it’s “great people feel that way.” But he also knows he can’t control his Major League arrival. What he can control is what the Royals want him to focus on: Taking good at-bats, developing defensively and continuing to improve.

If it’s anything like the past six games, Caglianone will be forcing the issue soon enough.

“I just want to go out every day and compete,” Caglianone said. “I want to win. Right now, it's with Omaha and that’s where my focus is at. I don’t pay too much attention to any of that type of stuff, to be honest with you. As long as I'm making the people that care about me proud, that's really kind of all that matters to me.”