Potentially huge era begins tonight for the KC Royals

STORY UPDATE: This story about the KC Royals prospect Jac Caglianone has been updated to include information about how to watch his pro debut tonight for free.

It won't happen at Kauffman Stadium tonight when the KC Royals try to even at a game apiece their crucial playoff ramification-loaded series with Boston. Nor will it take place at Werner Park in Omaha, where Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate Storm Chasers host the Iowa Cubs.

Instead, Jac Caglianone, the two-way player with superstar potential the Royals snatched up with their first 2024 draft pick less than a month ago, will make his anxiously-awaited official professional baseball debut tonight in Davenport, Iowa, where he'll take the field at Modern Woodman Park in the uniform of the Quad Cities River Bandits, the Kansas City system's High-A club.

Caglianone's first affiliated ball action will come roughly two weeks after he signed what MLB.com KC beat writer Anne Rogers reported as an above-slot $7.5 million deal with the Royals. He then spent several days at the club's Surprise, Arizona, complex; although he missed playing in the Arizona Complex League, his short Surprise stint gave him the chance to work in so-called "Bridge League" games, and to begin acclimating himself to life as a pro ballplayer.

So, what does Caglianone have to look forward to the rest of the season?

KC Royals fans shouldn't look for Jac Caglianone on the mound

Not surprisingly, it appears Caglianone won't be pitching as the minor league season winds down. Rogers wrote Monday that he'll "...be focusing on hitting for the rest of the season..." That strategy makes sense — why push him immediately into the two-way player role, a move that would only increase the burden of dealing with the brand new pressures of playing and living in the minors, and of being one of the most fascinating prospects the organization has ever had?

And to think the Royals will prioritize Caglianone's pitching, especially this early in his career, ignores the impressive strength of his bat work, which will likely impact his and the Royals' futures far more than pitching once a week. He slammed 75 home runs, including 35 this season, during his three-year career at Florida.

Look for Caglianone to get plenty of work at the plate. The River Bandits enter tonight's game against Wisconsin, Milwaukee's High-A team, with 30 games left.

Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. CDT. Here's how the contest can be seen free.

More about the KC Royals