Former Gators Two-Way Baseball Star Will Report to MLB Spring Training

Former Florida Gators two-way player and Kansas City Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone will get his first crack at playing with the big leaguers. 

According to MLB.com Anne Rogers, Caglianone will attend big league camp with the Royals when Sring Training gets going next month. He will be part of the list of non-roster invites to camp. 

The Gators star is getting a rare nod from the Royals. He is the first first-round pick heading into their first full spring training to get an invite since Royals all-star Alex Gordan in 2006. Pitcher Brandon Finnegan sort of also counts, but he had already made his MLB debut (and a World Series debut) by this point. 

However, an important note is that he will focus solely on hitting during his time in Spring Training. 

Caglianone is one of the most electric Gators baseball players in recent memory. In 165 games, 164 starts .355/.447/.760 across 634 at-bats. He hit 75 home runs, drove in 189 runs, scored 176 runs and tallied 225 hits. He owns the program’s career home run record and the single-season record (35). 

During his senior season, he hit more home runs than he struck out at the plate (26). 

On the mound, he had a career 4.55 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts over 148 1/3 innings. 

His efforts earned him First Team All-American by multiple outlets (D1B, BA, ABCA, NCBWA), the 2024 John Olerud 2-Way Player of the Year, the 2024 Perfect Game Two-Way Player of the Year, 2023 and 2024 All-SEC First Team and a 2023 Golden Spikes finalist. 

Tied for the fourth-highest Gator to be drafted to the MLB by the Kansas City Royals (sixth overall) alongside John Burke and A.J. Puk. 

Along with being the Royals top prospect, he is the No. 17 prospect in the overall MLB pipeline.

It’s unlikely he makes the Royals’ Opening Day roster, but it’s not an unheard-of occurrence. His former Gators teammate, Wyatt Langford broke camp with the Texas Rangers in his first full professional season.