Royals Future Superstar Achieves Top-10 Prospect Status As MLB Debut Nears

The last time the Kansas City Royals had a prospect ranked in the top 10 on MLB Pipeline's rankings, he went on to become the 2024 American League Most Valuable Player runner-up.

Bobby Witt Jr. was once considered a future superstar, and now he unquestionably is one. But the Royals had a bit of a void at the top of their farm system when Witt graduated, without an obvious heir apparent to keep pushing the franchise into the future.

That heir has arrived in the form of Jac Caglianone, the larger-than-life first baseman/outfielder the Royals drafted with the sixth-overall pick last July. Caglianone is currently laying waste to Double-A pitching, and though he still has two levels to climb, his major-league debut could happen by early summer.

On Monday, Caglianone reached new heights on the MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects list, thanks to his brilliant start to the 2025 campaign. In the updated Top 100, Caglianone ranked 10th, giving Kansas City their first top-10 prospect on this particular list since Witt graduated in 2022.

MLB Pipeline prospect evaluator Sam Dykstra explained why the publication had Caglianone rising up the ranks.

"Now a hitter only in pro ball, Caglianone -- the highest-ranked among them -- has brought his Stantonian power to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, and while his chase rate remains on the high side, it's not as concerning as it was at Florida," Dykstra wrote.

"He's also sprinkled in some outfield work as Kansas City considers a spot for him in the bigs soon."

Caglianone, 22, is slashing .320/.392/.578 through 33 games in Double-A. He's got nine home runs, many of which have been tape-measure blasts, while driving in 37 runs, which is 13 more than anyone else in the Texas League.

The hype train for Caglianone is only picking up steam. And it will continue gathering momentum until it arrives at Kauffman Stadium later this season.

The only real questions are what kind of shape the Royals' offense will be in when Caglianone arrives and how much he can help right away.

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