Jac Caglianone could defy this historical trend with KC Royals

Caglianone's pitching potential could determine his MLB future.

Caglianone's raw power is an unending luxury for the Royals' farm system, and he will certainly abuse some less-talented competition en route to The Show. But fans, and Caglianone, want to see if he will pitch along that road to the major leagues. After all, he found some success against staunch collegiate competition. Why shouldn't he have a chance? MLB Pipeline made the case for Caglianone's raw tools on the mound.

"The Tommy John surgery survivor struggled to find the strike zone in his first collegiate pitching action last year, but a more compact delivery was helping him stay around the zone more, even if his walk rate still remained high. He touches triple digits with his fastball, and he introduced a 90-mph cutter that he featured more than his slider this fall to go along with a solid changeup."

MLB Pipeline

Caglianone posted a 4.55 ERA across 34 starts, with 170 strikeouts in 148.1 innings pitched. There is no question about his stuff's potential, but it was his lack of control that caused doubt. 105 walks in his collegiate body of work is an incredibly high clip, fueling his 1.470 career WHIP in Florida. But the talent and sustained opportunities at Florida are hard for even Royals executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo to ignore.

"It’s unique to have somebody that can do both and has done it at a really high level in the SEC. Doing it in the Major Leagues is another thing. And that’s something we’re going to continue to talk about and figure out how this can work. But we love his bat. We’ll say that. We love his bat, love his power, and love his athleticism. And that is, first and foremost, where we are. But we are well aware of what he can do on the mound as well."

J.J. Picollo

So, the door is open. Could Caglianone defy the odds and realize his nickname, Jactani? The deck is incredibly stacked against the slugger.