Jac Caglianone among 23 non-roster invitees to Royals spring training
The first-round pick will be in big league camp.
The Royals unveiled a preliminary list of 23 non-roster invitees to big league camp in Arizona for spring training, and it includes 2024 first-round pick Jac Caglianone, as well as top prospects Blake Mitchell and Carter Jensen and former first-round pick Gavin Cross.
Free agents Cavan Biggio, Taylor Clarke, and Junior Fernández were also invited. Biggio spent seven seasons in the big leagues, mostly with Toronto. Clarke pitched for the Royals in 2022 and 2023 before they traded him to the Brewers last year. Fernández has pitched parts of four MLB seasons with the Cardinals and Pirates.
The Royals also invited players who spent last season in their minor leagues including catchers Kyle Hayes, Omar Hernández, Brian O’Keefe, and Luca Tresh, infielders Cam Devanney, Anthony Simonelli, Tyler Tolbert, and Javier Vaz, outfielder John Rave, and pitchers Chandler Chamblain, Austin Cox, Tyson Guerrero, Andrew Hoffmann, Ben Kudrna, Beck Way, and Stephen Zobac.
With the 23 invitees, the Royals have 63 total players invited to spring training.
Caglianone’s invitation likely signals the Royals expect him to be a fast riser in the farm system. Caglianone was selected sixth overall last summer as a two-way player, but the Royals say he will focus solely on hitting this season and could move to the outfield later this year.
Caglianone's maturity & ability led to an invite, JJ Picollo told me: "You want him to be around winners. We’ve got a bunch of winners in our clubhouse, and the more he understands what our culture is about, the better, because it’s a culture that hopefully one day he’s leading."
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) January 10, 2025
Last year he started slow, but came on to hit .241/.302/.388 in 29 games at High-A, then hit .236/.300/.449 with five home runs in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League. The first baseman boasts 80-grade power, but will have to address concerns about his chase rate.
Pitchers and catchers report on February 12 with the first full workout on February 17. The Royals open the exhibition schedule on February 21 against the Texas Rangers.