The 23-year-old right fielder crushed two home runs in the Kansas City Royals' Saturday matchup against the Chicago Cubs.
Jac Caglianone had himself a night on Saturday during the Kansas City Royals' matchup at Kauffman Stadium against the Chicago Cubs.
He went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate while crushing two home runs, propelling Kansas City to a 6-3 victory and sparing them from a potential three-game sweep.
Following the game, Caglianone discussed the preparation he has done off the field with assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames to keep his swing in the best form possible for moments like last night when the Royals counted on him the most.
"Really just that backwards move," Caglianone said. "Not getting too far into it to where I’m shooting forward. Just kind of simplifying it. He always tells me, 'You don’t need to get more.' As still as we can possibly be, the better. That's really just all we’ve been working on."
This strategy paid dividends in the first inning as Caglianone put the Royals on the board 1-0 with a 448-foot solo blast to center field.
Furthermore, Caglianone's first homer would provide the spark that gets the rest of Kansas City's bats going as Josh Rojas extended the lead to 3-0 in the second with an RBI single, driving in Michael Massey and John Rave.
Caglianone hit an RBI double in the third, bringing home Bobby Witt Jr. Nonetheless, Carson Kelly answered back for the Cubs that same inning with an RBI double that drove in Nico Hoerner and Alex Bregman.
Ian Happ joined the comeback attempt in the sixth, launching a solo homer off Kansas City starter Seth Lugo. Even then, that would be insufficient when Caglianone slammed the door shut in the seventh with a two-run shot to center field.
Besides Saturday, Caglianone hit two homers in the Royals' 12-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on June 23, putting the Royals ahead 2-0 in the first with a solo shot to right field while hitting a two-run blast in the fifth and increasing the team's lead to 6-1.
As a result, the fruit of his efforts would be a spot in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby.
Although he bowed out in the first round of the competition with just eight homers, Caglianone has kept up the pace in the second half of the season, batting .264 while recording a .797 OPS and .317 on-base percentage. He has also logged 103 hits, 49 RBI and 27 walks.
In addition to Thomas, Caglianone's immense work ethic has caught the attention of franchise home run leader Salvador Perez.
"For me, he’s the strongest young guy I’ve ever met in my life," Perez said. "Lifting, the other day, he was 600 pounds squatting. He’s only 23 years old. I'm like, 'Jac, come on, man.'"
While Kansas City's season has not gone the way they hoped with the team going 49-70 overall, they still have a young slugger in Caglianone to fall back on as they head into their next series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
