MLB Analyst Breaks Down Royals' Jac Caglianone: 'Science Experiment'

Kansas City Royals rookie Jac Caglianone has jaw-dropping potential.

At 6-foot-5, 250 pounds the powerhouse Caglianone wields a bat that delivers thunderous contact, but his tendency to chase pitches outside the zone has long been a point of concern for scouts.

As "Cags" begins his Major League Baseball journey (promoted on June 2), the burning question looms: will Caglianone refine his plate discipline and emerge as one of MLB’s elite sluggers? Both paths seem plausible—he might rack up strikeouts yet still launch a barrage of home runs, blending raw might with a swing-happy approach.

In Triple-A this 2025 season, Caglianone did nothing but demolish baseballs. ESPN analyst Paul Hembekides, on a recent episode of the Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney podcast, broke down the rookie’s tantalizing profile.

“In a season in which we have seen so many fascinating prospects with outlier skills enter the major leagues, he's probably the most fascinating of all of them, at least to me, because it's legit 80-grade light tower power,” Hembekides said.

“And the million dollar question of course is, is he gonna chase too frequently to tap into it frequently, right? And that's what makes him the ultimate boom-or-buster.”

“The hard-hit rate in Triple-A is 58 percent … the Major League average, for context, is 41. His average fly ball has traveled 28 feet further than the average fly ball. You wanna challenge him in the zone? He slugged .889 in Triple-A.”

“He's going to hit the piss out of the baseball. That we know. But on the other side, his swing decisions are concerning. They're problematic, perhaps not devastating, but it's the biggest reason why he wasn't the first pick in the country last year. Because his chase rate in Florida in his last two seasons was 42 percent. That is an astronomical number. It's an untenable number against Major League pitching. However, we did see that number checked down to 34 percent against Triple-A pitching.”

“What we know for sure is that Major League pitchers are going to require him to spit. Can you lay off spin … can you lay off (the) change up in? Splitter down in the zone?”

“When you blend all the attributes of his profile, he's almost like a science experiment. Gonna be one of my favorite players to follow across his rookie season.”

Caglianone feels like a lab-crafted player, and he should be a thrilling experiment to watch this year, as noted by Hembekides. On Thursday, Cags notched his first MLB hit—an RBI double against the St. Louis Cardinals—hinting at the fireworks to come.

Will this 22-year-old phenom harness his colossal power and tame his chase rate? Caglianone’s rookie journey with the Royals promises to be a wild, must-see ride.

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