One of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreadful 2026 season for the Kansas City Royals has been the emergence of 23-year-old Jac Caglianone. The sixth-overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, he played in just 62 games his rookie season and hit an abysmal .157 average over 303 at-bats.
Despite that, Cags entered year two with high expectations, and for what it’s worth, he’s delivered. Which is why his entry into the 2026 Home Run Derby came as no shock, as his 14 home runs this season lead the team, and his raw power is something that has rarely been seen in Major League Baseball.
Caglianone’s longest moon shot this season was a 444-foot blast on June 21st, and let’s not forget the 466-foot bomb that he pounced on last July. The most recent Royal to compete in this contest was superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the 2024 Derby, where he came runner-up with 50 homers of his own. Caglianone hopes to finish one spot higher than his Royal teammate and bring home the derby title in what would make him the youngest winner ever, eclipsing 1993’s Juan Gonzalez, who won it at 23 years and 265 days old.
The 23-year-old Caglianone leads the Royals with 14 homers and could become a household name with a solid performance.
Caglianone was quick to jump on the opportunity and spoke about what it will mean to have his dad, Jeff, there as well, who will be throwing him the pitches from the mound.
“”It’s something you dream about,” he said. “Me and my dad, the many times we hit together, we’ve always joked about it. So for it to come to fruition is pretty sick. When I received the text [from Major League Baseball] saying they were interested in me doing it, it was an immediate yes”
Jac Caglianone, Courtesy of MLB.com
The pressure to perform is so high in professional sports, but for a light-hearted All-Star weekend event like this, and with how young he is, Caglianone has the advantage over his competition as just the new guy out there. And if the mental side with Cags is clear and he can just go and swing to the best of his ability, there’s a pretty good chance he could bring home the title to Kansas City.
If so, Caglianone would set his first meaningful Royals record as the first in franchise history to win the MLB Home Run Derby. The team has previously been represented by Bo Jackson (1989), Danny Tartabull (1991), Mike Moustakas (2017), Salvador Perez (2021), and Witt two years ago.
Whether he wins it or not, however, Cag’s with a good performance could continue to rise up the ranks of names to know in this league and quickly become a household name. The talent to become a future superstar is there, and being able to call himself a home run champion would be the first of many notches on his belt of what has turned into a promising baseball career.
You can catch Caglianone in the Home Run Derby on July 13, 8 p.m. ET airing live on Netflix.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kckingdom.com ’
