Royals select first baseman/pitcher Jac Caglianone in the 2024 draft

The Florida Gator has 68 home runs in the last two seasons

The Royals elected to go for power with the sixth overall pick in the draft, choosing first baseman/pitcher Jac Caglianone from the University of Florida. The 21-year-old left-handed hitter smashed 35 home runs for the Gators, hitting .419/.544/.875 with 58 walks and 26 strikeouts in his junior season. At one point this season, he homered in nine consecutive games, setting a Division I record.

Caglianone (pronounced CAH-glee-own) comes from Tampa and excelled at Plant High School where he was a two-way player. He had Tommy John surgery in high school and was limited to hitting duties his freshman year at Florida. But in 2023 he became their primary first baseman and also made 18 starts on the mound with a 4.34 ERA, flashing a mid-90s fastball that can hit triple digits at times. That rose to 4.76 in 16 starts this year with 83 strikeouts in 73 ²⁄₃ innings, but the Royals will reportedly give him a chance to pitch. He throws a cutter and change up to go along with his fastball.

But Caglianone’s calling card is his 80-grade power from the left side. He has a large frame at 6’5’’ 250 pounds, but some scouts have noted his aggressive nature at the plate. MLB Pipeline writes that he is “very aggressive in the box and there was concern about his tendency to chase pitches out of the zone (44 percent chase rate last year), but he doesn’t strike out a lot and makes a lot of hard contact.” Caglianone cut his strikeout rate to just 14 percent this year. Keith Law writes his swing is“close to a dead-pull approach, more power than hit.”

Caglianone has below-average speed but is considered to be a solid defender at first. He could be a fast riser who is in the big leagues within a year.

Full slot value for the #6 pick is $7,213,800 and the Royals have a total of $13,023,300 in their bonus pool after trading away the #39 pick in the Hunter Harvey trade this weekend.