KANSAS CITY -- On a night in which the first 15,000 fans at Kauffman Stadium received a Jac Caglianone Blazin’ Bat bobblehead, it only makes sense that Caglianone would homer in the Royals’ 6-2 win over the Guardians on Monday.
And the bat was indeed blazin’.
An up-and-in fastball from Guardians reliever Matt Festa didn’t stand a chance when Caglianone turned and unleashed his bat on it, sending it a Statcast-projected 421 feet into the right-field seats with an exit velocity of 104.2 mph. It was Caglianone’s fourth home run of the season, all of which have come in his last 12 games.
“Bobby [Witt Jr.] says it’s an auto-home run bobblehead night,” Caglianone said after the Royals' eighth win in the past 10 games. “He’s like, ‘That’s just how it goes.’ So glad to keep that going, at least.”
Caglianone had that up-and-in zone in his head when he stepped to the plate against Festa, who was teammates with Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino on Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic in March. A conversation floated back into Caglianone’s head as he prepared to face Festa, whose stuff cuts across the zone, on Monday.
“In the WBC, we were talking, and I was like, ‘I hate facing you,’” Caglianone said. “And he was like, ‘Oh yeah, cutters up and into the hands every time.’ I was like, ‘OK, back pocket.’”
Caglianone fouled off an elevated cutter for strike one and took one up and away for ball one. When Festa threw him the fastball in the zone but in on the hands, Caglianone was ready. He’s been working on being able to handle pitches in that zone with assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames, and it showed in the opener.
“That swing was amazing,” Pasquantino said. “Being able to turn on that pitch was incredible. Just keeps growing every day it feels like. He’s still a child. But in a good way. And if he can do that, everybody’s going to be happy.”
It does feel like we’re watching the 22-year-old Caglianone mature at the plate and in the field in real time, something the Royals knew would have to happen when they committed to playing him in right field almost every day this season despite the rough rookie year he had in 2025. With more playing opportunities comes more learning opportunities, and Caglianone has tried to make the most of that in 2026.
Now he’s seeing it come together, having hit safely in 14 of his last 19 games since April 20, during which he’s slashing .270/.343/.540 with eight extra base hits. There is still work to be done; he didn’t like striking out with the bases loaded in the fourth inning on Monday. But he’s also learned that one at-bat doesn’t define the entire game, and adjustments can be made.
“He’s learning in the big leagues in front of the whole world watching,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He had a half of a year in the Minor Leagues to figure this out [last year], he came up last year in June, and now he’s pretty much an everyday player here. There’s a lot of growth. It’s physical, it’s mental, it’s understanding how good the opposing pitchers are, what they understand with the scouting reports. He’s figuring all those things out on the fly.”
As long as that continues, Caglianone and the Royals will be in a good spot. Caglianone’s power is obvious -- just watch Monday’s home run again -- and he’s working some more walks recently. He’s also playing good defense in right field, just a year after he started really learning the position.
Here’s some more good news for the Royals. There’s another bobblehead coming Friday night, featuring Pasquantino and Witt playing rock paper scissors like they do after home runs and postgame wins.
Are homers coming from them?
“We got a double bobblehead coming up,” Pasquantino said. “Maybe that’s a good sign. [Witt] just put that out there, so I just figured I’d go ahead and say it directly.”
Caglianone nodded along when asked whether he expects homers from his teammates on Friday, so stay tuned.