Jac Caglianone: Kansas City Royals call-up's Rookie of the Year odds

Kansas City Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone has received his first call-up to Major League Baseball.

The first baseman/outfielder is expected to make his MLB debut on Tuesday, June 3, against the St. Louis Cardinals. Caglianone, who was drafted sixth-overall in the 2024 draft, stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 250 pounds, and his power hitting is his best attribute.

Before he's even stepped into the batters' box to face Major League pitching, Caglianone is already the +1000 second-favorite to win American League Rookie of the Year.

So far in 2025, Caglianone has played 38 games at AA and 12 games at AAA. Between those two stops, he has slashed .322/.389/.593 with 15 home runs, 56 RBI, nine doubles, 64 hits, 41 runs scored, and 118 total bases. He hit six of those homers in AAA, meaning he went yard every other game.

In college, the former Florida Gators standout was a two-way player who posted a career 4.55 ERA in 148.1 career innings at the NCAA level. He'll likely start out at first base after he and the franchise agreed it was his fastest path to the Majors, but he could find himself back on the mound part-time or in the outfield in the future.

The Royals currently sit just above .500 at 31-29, but they're in fourth place in the jam-packed AL Central. They have a -7 run differential and score the joint-second-fewest runs per game (3.23), which is tied with the 22-38 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Caglianone's slugging ability should help boost KC's run production, and considering Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia are the only players on the team with an offensive bWAR above 0.5, the team will be grateful for any help it can get.

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.

Rusty Gorelick

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