Even Jac Caglianone spoiling Tarik Skubal's Dodger Stadium debut went sour in continuing Royals nightmare

The Kansas City Royals have had nothing short of a nightmare season. From being tabbed as a postseason contender ahead of the 2026 season to sporting a 49-71 record on August 11, there hasn't been a lot to hang their hat on. And even when those hat hanging moments do arrive and things start to "go right", the Royals have proven time and time again that they truly cannot have nice things. Monday night's series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers was an example of just that.

With former division rival Tarik Skubal making his home debut in a Dodgers uniform, this was a real chance to look for a small moral victories in a lost season and get to him on his big night. And it looked like they were on their way to do that thanks to Jac Caglianone. It didn't take long for him to get to the reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young award winner, as he lined an RBI-single in the first inning before belting a two-run homer of him in his next at-bat in the third.

But after going up 3-0 early, the Royals were once again unable to hold on to a lead, losing 6-5 when all was said and done and dropping to 22 games under .500. Noah Cameron wasn't terrible by any means, but four earned runs on the night was three more than he'd surrendered in his last three outings combined. And it was the bullpen tabbed with the loss as Alex Lange gave up the winning run in the seventh, with John Schreiber giving up a run in his third of an inning of work the inning prior.

The Royals just haven't been able to string a full effort together much this season. If the offense breaks through, the pitching seems to falter and vice versa.

Despite team struggles, Jac Caglianone is emerging as key member of Royals' core

Especially after the trade deadline, the Royals' focus is clearly on the 2027 season and beyond and getting back to competitive baseball. And despite their shortcomings this season, through all the injuries and underperformance, they have seen a core emerge beyond the likes Bobby Witt Jr. and fellow All-Star Maikel Garcia.

Alongside rookie Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone looks like a key member to this Royals core entering what will hopefully be their return to competing for October. His textbook power has been on full display with 21 homers, a 98th percentile hard-hit rate and 93rd percentile barrel rate. And frankly he's just been an all-around solid offensive contributor, with a .266/.319/.487 slash line, 52 RBI, a .322 BABIP and 121 wRC+.

And with xBA, xSLG and xwOBA totals above the 88th percentile this season, his newfound sophomore success seems entirely sustainable.

The outfield has been a need for the Royals for awhile and they now seem to have someone that they can not only build around, but look at as one of the franchise's better outfielders in history. He's the first Royals outfielder since the great Alex Gordon back in 2013 to hit 20 or more homers.

There's still work to do in the offseason to build a winning roster, but they're not going into the offseason blind - at least in the offensive side of things. With Caglianone alongside Witt, Garcia and Jensen, the nucleus is there, now it's just time to construct a team around them.

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