Royals rookie Jac Caglianone entered Thursday’s game without a home run so far in his 13-game Major League Baseball career. Given that his prodigious power is his calling card, it seemed like only a matter of time until he finally broke through. And boy did he. Caglianone homered twice in a 4-1 Royals victory over the Rangers.
His first career home run, including the silent treatment from his teammates:
That gave the Royals a 3-0 lead in the second. Caglianone would come up in the top of the ninth with a 3-1 Royals lead and he again went yard with a solo shot.
This one was a little more Jac-ian (Cags-ian?), as his raw power is off the charts excellent. His first homer was 387 feet, but this second one clocked in at 439.
That would be the last run scored of the game as the Royals beat the Rangers 4-1.
Caglianone becomes the fourth-youngest Royals player ever with a two-homer game at 22 years and 130 days old. Eric Hosmer (21 years, 311 days) is the youngest while Bobby Witt Jr. and Carlos Beltrán also had younger two-homer games, according to CBS Sports research. It’s still plenty impressive.
Caglianone was the sixth overall pick in the MLB draft last July out of the University of Florida. During his sophomore year at Florida, he clubbed 33 homers and then followed it up with 35 home runs in 66 games in his junior year last season, hitting .419/.544/.875. In 79 minor-league games before his promotion, Caglianone hit .292/.358/.517 with 17 home runs. There are concerns with his swing-happy approach — through his first 13 games, he had 12 strikeouts and one walk — but his power plays at any level and that was on display Thursday.
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