The Kansas City Royals are 5-4-1 in spring training after their 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, but that’s not the most important thing about their club right now. What matters is the young and ascending players who are having productive springs.
10 games is too small a sample size to draw any concrete conclusions, but Kansas City has a few players who may be previewing what they can do during the regular season right now. Stars like Bobby Witt Jr. (1.300 OPS) are red-hot, but that’s predictable. The real intrigue lies under the surface, with names that may not be known amongst casual baseball fans.
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Here are three young Royals players who are on the right track this spring:
Kansas City Royals right fielder Jack Caglianone (14). © Scott Sewell-Imagn Images
Caglianone is 6-for-13 with one homer, four RBIs, and four walks over five games thus far. The 23-year-old is playing better than he did last year, when he slashed .157/.237/.295 with seven homers and 18 RBIs over 62 contests.
Caglianone’s success is vital for Kansas City, as the organization drafted him sixth overall in 2024. The Florida native was its top prospect when it called him up to the big leagues last season, but he didn’t play to his potential.
Caglianone slashed .308/.377/.547 with 22 homers and 86 RBIs over 95 minor-league games, so he’s a proven stud at the professional level. The next step for the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder is to show that he can play that way in MLB, and he’s done that so far this year.
Cross, who has yet to make his big-league debut in the regular season, is 3-for-10 with a homer, three RBIs, and one walk this spring. The Royals picked the 25-year-old ninth overall in the 2022 MLB Draft, so it’s about time he produced at the top level.
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The organization has been methodical with Cross’s development, as he hasn’t made it past Double-A yet in the regular season despite having a .747 OPS over 340 career minor-league games. But if the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder keeps producing this spring, he’ll give it something to think about.
Black has tossed just four innings this spring, but he’s done as well as the Royals could ask for. The 26-year-old has allowed no runs on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts across three appearances.
Kansas City acquired Black from the San Francisco Giants in November, and that change might have been just what he needed. The right-hander pitched just 10 big-league games for the Giants after they drafted him 85th overall in 2021, and he logged a 6.47 ERA over those outings. He’s off to a good start on his new team, but four quality innings in spring training aren’t enough to celebrate yet.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’
