Jac Caglianone’s hot stretch may’ve just forced change in Royals’ offensive hierarchy

It was only a matter of time before Jac Caglianone caught fire. He’s shown massive improvement from his rookie campaign to start this season, but once the calendar flipped to June, he’s looked like one of the best players not only on the Royals but in all of baseball. He’s already claimed his place in baseball as one of the most feared power hitters in the game. Only Oneil Cruz has a higher hard-hit rate, but he’s been stacking multi-hit games by working long at-bats and getting his fair share of singles.

His recent hot streak is a testament to his mentality and love for the game. Caglianone had a rude awakening in his first introduction to Major League Baseball, but didn’t let his failure affect his attitude towards the game.

“Feel like last year I was so hyper-fixated on all the negatives. I dug myself a hole, so this year I just wanted to have that optimistic mindset. As long as you’re in the right mental headspace, I think the sky is the limit”

Jac Caglianone

While he was enjoying more success at the plate and taking better approaches to start this season, it still seemed like something was missing. He was hitting the ball hard but was not getting many favorable counts due to his high swing-and-miss rate.

There was fear among the fan base that Caglianone was becoming a platoon player, which was far from what the Royals and their fans were expecting. Manager Matt Quatraro began consistently sitting him against left-handed pitchers.

On May 31st, his average sat at .236. On June 15th, his average sits at .269, a 33-point jump in just two weeks. The power has jumped off the screen, with more homers in the last two weeks than he did all of May.

What you should be most excited about is his developing eye at the plate. He had an 11-pitch walk against Nathan Eovaldi on June 9th and seemed to process every pitch, mentally filing it away for later. He later touched him Eovaldi for a solo dinger in the 5th inning, and returned the favor to Jalen Beeks in the bottom of the 6th.

Caglainone received a vote of confidence from the Royals on Friday when he was moved ahead of Salvador Perez in the lineup for the first time this season.

Which begs the question, are the Royals finally ready to feature Jac Caglianone near the top of the lineup?

Caglianone may be forcing Royals’ hand to keep him near the top of the lineup

One of the biggest issues plaguing the Royals’ offense this year is not having enough firepower behind Bobby Witt Jr. Carter Jensen was moved to the leadoff spot, but let’s just say he hasn’t been your prototypical leadoff man, hitting .182 in that spot.

Maikel Garcia started the season leading off, but has since shifted to the 3 hole with Vinnie Pasquantino hitting behind him against righties. Against left-handed pitcher McKenzie Gore on June 11, Salvador Perez hit cleanup with Vinnie behind him.

A lot has been said about Perez’s falloff this year, hitting just .205 overall and .193 against right-handers. Fans have endured watching Salvy flail around the plate all season, and have clamored for the Royals to do something about it.

They finally did on Friday night, moving Caglianone ahead of Perez for the first time this season. It was a welcome change, but one that should have happened weeks ago.

The Royals have proven they are slow to change and won’t adjust a plan until it blows up in their faces. They’re like a child who acts up, gets in trouble, and doesn’t change their behavior until real consequences follow.

Instead of identifying Salvy’s struggles early and making adjustments before the bottom falls out, they have fallen into a habit of stubbornly constructed lineups. Now that Caglianone has finally produced some superstar-level games, the Royals have no choice but to move the young star up in the lineup in hopes of producing more fireworks than just the ones after Friday night’s game.

I would argue that it makes more sense for Caglianone to hit behind Bobby or Maikel than Vinnie. On this team, you need Cags to be your 3-hitter or your cleanup hitter.

According to Fangraphs, his 18.6% HR/FB ratio makes him the most dangerous power threat on the team by a mile. The next closest player is Carter Jensen at 11%.

His ability to hit the ball hard would pair nicely with the hitting prowess and on-base ability of Witt Jr. and Garcia. A lineup with Jensen, Witt, Garcia and Caglianone as your top four hitters seems like an optimal lineup.

Ideally, I think you would like for Cags to hit directly behind Witt to provide some additional protection for the two-time All-Star. Witt Jr. is walking at the highest rate of his career because teams refuse to let him beat them.

They would feel a bit more squeamish about working around Witt if Caglianone was lurking in the on-deck circle. Then you could have Maikel Garcia hit cleanup, Vinnie hit fifth when he’s healthy again, and Perez hit 6th.

Making a move that high up in the order may be wishful thinking at the moment, but at least the Royals are showing that they’re willing to adapt on the fly based on recent results. They have to find ways to feature their best power hitter more often.