Royals' highest prospect Jac Caglianone Tonight, hit the right field for the double A-type field in northwest Arkansas. It was the first professional outfield job for a left-handed batsman, who has only played first base since he was selected as No. 6 last summer. Caglianone was a two-way star at the University of Florida, but his only defensive work for the Gators also appeared at first.
This is an interesting development considering that the royals (again) get very little production from the outfield. The Kansas City outfielder hit .191/.252/.280 on Thursday. In all three slash statistics, they are at the bottom of Major League Baseball (MLB) – leading the batting averages in batting averages and slipping while taking Brave-based percentages. They tied for MLB lows with four home runs.
That's not a new question. Steve Adams of MLBTR wrote in a post from front-end subscribers last May that the royal family had a long outfield disaster. In the almost complete calendar year since then, their outfields have reached .225/.282/.364 in over 1,700 board appearances. GM JJ Picollo admitted in February that the front desk was disappointed and they were unable to make a major upgrade during the offseason.
Royals held an outfield for the opening ceremony MJ Melendez,,,,, Kyle Isbel and Hunter Renfroe Second straight season. They chose Melendez last week to be shocked. Drew Waters Put it into the lineup instead. He has performed well in a small sample, but has a career .233/.307/.400 batsman, and he has played in one-third of the major league games. Renfroe followed last year's .229/.297/.392 to show a bleak .164/.258/.200 slash until 62 times heading to the plate.
Caglianone surpassed 30 home runs in each of his last two seasons at Florida. He struggled for 29 senior games after the draft, but started the season much stronger. He has a .300/.374/.529 line and has four home runs and doubles in Double-A. If he hasn't been on the major league call yet, the mid-season promotion is not out of reach. College batsmen selected in the first half of the first round often entered the major leagues in their first full professional season. Two such players, Cam Smith and Nick Kurtzalready in the professional field.
If Caglianone can play with a passable right field, the path will be cleaner. Vinnie Pasquantino It's a daily first baseman. Although they did not set DH, El Salvador Perez When he didn't catch up, he saw a lot of time getting him into the roster. Caglianone can get fastballs into the 90s as a pitcher, so he certainly has arm strength. The bigger question is whether his phone is enough to play anywhere outside of the first game. He listed it in a 6'5-inch, 250-pound stake and was unsurprisingly a runner who reported a sub-average level in scouting. It seems that the royal family will at least measure his outfield ability among minors.
In more direct news, the team is waiting Cole Ragans. The star's left-handed starts after this afternoon, and after three innings in the afternoon, he allowed four runs to Colorado. Anne Rogers of MLB.com wrote that the Ragans were hampered by a tight left groin and further testing will be conducted tomorrow.
The Royals used a spin that included the Ragans, Seth Lugo,,,,, Michael Wacha,,,,, Kris Bubic and Michael Lorenson All seasons of the year. Kyle Wright and Alec Marsh Lorenzen could have pushed Lorenzen to the fifth starter, but they each opened the season on the injured roster. Marsh struggles with offseason shoulder soreness. He was shut down a few weeks ago after suffering from re-discomfort, but Captain Matt Quatraro told reporters that he will restart a throwing program tomorrow (via the Associated Press link).
