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KC Royals' promotion plan for Jac Caglianone should've been obvious all along

A recent move all but confirms what the KC Royals had in mind for their top talent from the start.
ByOliver Vandervoort|
Ed Zurga/GettyImages

After weeks of waiting, wishing, and hoping, Kansas City Royals (and Omaha Storm Chasers) fans got their wish on Sunday evening. Jac Caglianone has officially been promoted from the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals to the Triple-A team. And how the team scheduled the big club's call-up shows there was a plan in place all along. Or at least for quite a while.

While Storm Chasers fans are obviously excited about seeing the guy who posted an insane .320/.394/.558/.952 slashline at Double-A come up to the next level and see what he can do, the home crowd must wait. And it seems evident that was part of why the KC Royals waited so long to promote him.

Jac Caglianone’s Triple-A debut timed perfectly by Royals for long-term impact

The former Florida Gator star was even better in May, posting a 1.068 OPS and hitting five homers in half a month of work. And while he was bashing the ball all over the yard, the KC Royals weren’t calling him up. It appears they were waiting until his Triple-A debut was on the road.

And now that he’s gotten his promotion, he’ll begin the assignment not having to worry about learning to hit Triple-A pitching while Omaha fans cheer their fool heads off with every pitch. The Stormchasers spend all of next week in Salt Lake to take on the Bees.

His first home game won’t be until May 27 vs the St. Paul Saints. Certainly, the crowd will still go crazy when he steps to the plate for the first time at Werner Park, but he’ll already have 20-30 plate appearances by then.

He’ll have a chance to become accustomed to a new club and a new level of competition. It’s the kind of move that is quite smart and shows a level of planning that is never obvious in the moment. 

Of course, some KC Royals fans will wonder why he didn’t just jump to the Major Leagues, as they’ve wondered since he got off to a torrid start in 2025. However, his subsequent struggles and adjustments show that the franchise handled this whole plan exceptionally well.

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