Royals' Jac Caglianone Gets Lofty 2030 Projection From MLB Writer

The hype train for Jac Caglianone is already running at warp speed in 2025. Can you even envision how much Kansas City Royals fans will like their rising star slugger in five years?

Caglianone, 22, was the Royals' first-round pick in 2024, sixth overall in the Major League Baseball Draft. He didn't excel in his limited professional action last summer, but he's gone gangbusters to begin the 2025 season, starting with spring training and continuing into his Double-A debut.

In 33 games at Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Caglianone is slashing .320/.392/.578. He's got nine home runs in 33 games, and his 37 RBI were 14 more than anyone else in the Texas League entering play on Tuesday.

As promising as Caglianone looks now, he's still just a prospect, albeit one who could be in the big leagues within a couple of months. There's no telling what the future might hold, but one baseball writer is rather bullish.

On Wednesday, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked Caglianone fourth out of 30 on a predictive list of the top first basemen in MLB in the year 2030. The young slugger will be 27 that season.

"The Royals initially drafted him as a two-way player, but they have since decided to deploy him solely as a first baseman in an effort to maximize his offensive potential and get his much-needed power bat to the big leagues faster," Reuter wrote.

"He could be in the big leagues before the All-Star break, though it's unclear how he fits the team's short-term plans with Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez occupying the bulk of the first base and designated hitter playing time."

It's worth noting, because Reuter skipped over it, that Caglianone has begun playing some outfield, with six games played in right field so far at Double-A.

While the logjam is a potential issue for the Royals to navigate in the second half of the 2025 season, these things almost always work themselves out in the long run. Caglianone has truly special raw power, and that will make him a force to contend with for many years to come.

More MLB: Royals Superstar Gives Take On Hypothetical Matchup With Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes