Jac Caglianone has real chance to make Royals history at Home Run Derby

The Kansas City Royals may not have a plethora of names heading to Philadelphia for next Tuesday's All-Star Game, but they received some more good news in regard to the weekend. While it may not be another addition to the All-Star roster, on Wednesday it was revealed that Jac Caglianone would be participating in the Home Run Derby.

Caglianone becomes the sixth player in Royals history to participate in the Home Run Derby, joining Bo Jackson in 1989, Danny Tartabull in 1991, Mike Moustakas in 2017, Salvador Perez in 2021 and most recently Bobby Witt Jr. in 2024.

None of them were able to capture derby glory, however perhaps Caglianone could be the first. He may've gotten off to a slow start this season, but he's since finally arrived on the big league scene as many expected him to as a former top prospect. Since May 29, he's hit nine of his 14 homers and is slugging .534.

And from an underlying metrics perspective there are few hitters that are able to strike as much fear into opposing pitchers as Caglianone can. His hard-hit rate, barrel rate, average exit velocity and bat speed all sit within the 92nd percentile or better. His max exit velocity is the 12th highest in baseball at 116.1 mph and he holds the fifth highest average home run distance in baseball at 418 ft.

Could Jac Caglianone have more of a role to play in All-Star weekend than HR Derby?

Now, obviously Caglianone was not named amongst the American League All-Stars this past weekend. However, it's not as if he wasn't entirely warranting of a spot. Since his revitalization at the dish, Caglianone has been a well above-average 113 wRC+ bat. With a respectable .258 batting average and very impressive .777 OPS. Perhaps this could put him in the mix to be a replacement should the need arise.

Now, when it comes to All-Star replacements, it's harder for position players to achieve such a feat, as apart from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. declining his invitation it usually takes an injury for replacement services to be required. That being said with Aaron Judge and Byron Buxton both on the injured list, the AL will need outfield replacements.

Caglianone's stats speak for himself as he's nowhere near an egregious shout to fill in for these two when the need arises to replace them. And the fact that he's already going to be in Philadelphia for All-Star weekend only makes things logistically easier.

That being said, this is entirely speculative and time will only tell if Caglianone lives up to the mark of the decision-making powers that be. For now though, Royals fans will surely be excited to once again have a rooting interest in the Home Run Derby.

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