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Royals Announce Roster Move After Jac Caglianone News

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Zach Kaplan | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 1:43 PM ET

The Kansas City Royals swept the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in dominant fashion, not only turning around a six-game losing streak but outscoring Texas 16-5.

Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha combined for a 2.63 ERA, with Lugo and Wacha each throwing quality starts.

The main story from Arlington, however, was young Royals prospect Jac Caglianone hitting not just his first career home run, but tacking on a second one later in the game.

Jac's first home run went 387 feet and gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead in the 2nd, and his second of the day went 439 feet and put them up 4-1 in the 9th.

Caglianone erupting for a multi-HR game after hitting his first ever sent teammates into a frenzy, and excited fans that he might soon start mashing to his potential.

Caglianone went 51 at-bats without leaving the yard, and raised his OPS from .447 to .596 in one day.

After the sweep of the Rangers, fueled by their exciting new slugger, the Royals controversially announced they activated lefty reliever Sam Long from the injured list.

Long had been sidelined since mid-April with inflammation in his throwing arm, but after making 12 rehab appearances, he was cleared to return despite pitching to a 9.90 ERA in those 12 games.

Long was crucial for the Royals last year, experiencing a career resurgence in a year that saw the Royals make a run to the ALDS. Long pitched to a 3.16 ERA in 42 2/3 innings, and pitched to a 2.25 ERA in four innings in last year's playoffs.

In a corresponding move, the team sent reliever Jonathan Bowlan down to Triple-A.

Fans weren't terribly pleased by the move, with one fan pointing out Long's 12.86 in 2025 and poor track record in those rehab games.

The Royals will look to ride the momentum of their recent sweep into a three-game series with the struggling San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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