Royals' latest lineup gimmick was actually defensible (but it didn't work)

The Kansas City Royals winning streak is over after narrowly dropping Wednesday's contest against the rival Guardians 3-1. But before the loss and all the injury fanfare that came with it, many fans were going to the lineup card, like they've often done, and complaining that Jac Caglianone was no where to be found, despite his red-hot streak at the plate.

Manager Matt Quatraro's decision to omit Caglianone came of course because there was a lefty on the mound in Joey Cantillo to start for Cleveland, but the narrative is growing that Caglianone should be in the lineup everyday. However, as frustrating as it might be to see a future key cog in the franchise's future competitive success passed over time and time again, there was a method to Quatraro' madness. Starling Marte, who got the start over Caglianone in right field, had been as good, if not better, against lefties in 2026.

The veteran former All-Star certainly took his time to make an impact in his new home this season. However, after hitting safely in five of his last seven games, Marte has raised his slash line .314/.342/.400 with a now above-average 104 wRC+. And the fact remains, that he's simply been as good, and better in certain areas, than Caglianone has been against lefties and traditionally gives them the better matchup as a right-handed bat.

The problem is though, despite Marte looking half decent himself at the plate on Wednesday, going 1-for-2 with a walk before being lifted in the seventh for a pinch runner, the Royals lost. And not only did they lose, they lost with their offense looking completely overmatched, as they only registered four hits off the Guardians pitching staff.

And there's reason to believe that after recently riding a four-game RBI streak, Caglianone was in a good place to provide that spark for the Royals.

Royals still have a duty to protect Jac Caglianone's development

Now, it's easy to get caught up in the moonshot homers and red-hot stretches, but the fact remains, Caglianone still has some holes in his game, especially against lefties. Moments like towering homers against southpaws - such as the recent pinch-hit one he belted off of Drew Pomeranz to send the Royals into extras against the Angels a few weeks ago - will always show his potential as an everyday guy.

And he's on the right track to get there eventually. However, moments like these need to be put into full context. They're just moments, not a whole picture. Caglianone doesn't have a plethora of experience against lefties yet to just be thrown in the deep-end just like that and as touched upon earlier, his overall work in that limited experience still leaves a lot to be desired.

It's easy to forget sometimes that Caglianone only just turned 23 a few months ago and the two-year anniversary of him being selected by the Royals in the draft isn't until July. This is still a very young prospect in many ways that needs to have his development nurtured and protected. It's easy to lose sight of that though when he's clobbering homers at the big league level, rather than doing it in Northwest Arkansas and Omaha where many other names in their early-20s reside.

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