Jac Caglianone’s breakout has gone from promising to impossible to ignore.
What started as a scorching June has turned into a full-on surge for the Royals slugger, who blasted nine home runs that month alone and nearly doubled his spring output. He also finished June with a massive 1.036 OPS for Kansas City, a stretch so loud it pushed him from someone who had recently been viewed as a possible Triple-A option to a real middle-of-the-order threat.
The month was strong enough to earn Caglianone a spot in the league’s Home Run Derby, where he sent towering shots into the Philadelphia night and made sure the league saw what Kansas City had been seeing all along.
Jac Caglianone tonight:
5-for-6 | 2 XBH | 3 R | 6 RBI
He’s up to 23 home runs and an .832 OPS on the year 💪 pic.twitter.com/mj1zJAD0FD
- Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 28, 2026
As September arrives, Caglianone heads into the final month of the Royals’ 2026 season with Kansas City out of playoff contention, but with a much different profile than the one he carried earlier in the year. He’s sitting on a .284/.333/.499 slash line and leads the team with 23 home runs.
Those numbers don’t scream superstar at first glance. But set against his rough 2025 season and the early struggles that followed this year, they tell the story of a major turnaround for the Royals sophomore.
The biggest change has come in the parts of his game that once raised the most concern. Caglianone has cleaned up his approach and improved his plate discipline, and that has allowed his elite raw power to show up more consistently.
The advanced numbers back it up, too. Caglianone now ranks in the 97th percentile among major leaguers with a 93.2 mph average exit velocity.
If he can keep this version of himself rolling into 2027 and build on the adjustments he made this summer, Kansas City may have finally found the long-awaited Robin to Bobby Witt Jr.’s Batman. Even more importantly, the Royals could be looking at the start of a legitimate offensive core built to last.
The only real question left is whether this new level at the plate sticks. If it does, then after more than a year of doubt and skepticism, Kansas City’s sixth overall pick from the 2024 draft has arrived.
In Other News...
Royals Bring Back A Familiar Name With His Future Still Unclear
The Royals used the roster expansion to add some familiar depth, recalling right-handers Nolan Hoffman and Easton McGee while also selecting the contract of outfielder Drew Waters. For Kansas City, the move gives the club a little more flexibility as the season enters its final stretch, and Waters is set to provide bench help or emergency coverage in the outfield.
Waters return comes with his place on the roster still very much in flux. He has already exhausted his options and had been designated for assignment before clearing waivers, so the Royals are not bringing him back with a long runway, especially after a stint in which his offense and defense both fell short of league average. For now, he fits as a useful extra body, but the bigger question is how long he can hold that spot. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Just Lost A Bullpen Piece They Planned To Build Around
Carlos Estvezs season is over before it really got going, and the Royals are now bracing for the reality that his time in Kansas City may be finished, too. The right-hander is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery next week after a frustrating run of injuries wiped out his season and kept him from delivering the kind of bullpen help the Royals envisioned when they brought him in.
Estvez had not pitched since March, first dealing with a left foot contusion before a right rotator cuff strain added to the setback, and his velocity never fully came back during rehab. While the club moved ahead with its September roster additions by bringing up relievers Easton McGee and Nolan Hoffman along with outfielder Drew Waters, the loss of a bullpen arm they had planned to build around leaves another hole to manage as the season winds down. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Suddenly Need A New Late-Inning Answer Again
Carlos Estvezs season has taken a sharp turn for the Royals, and with it so has the late-inning picture in Kansas City. The right-hander has been dealing with a left-foot contusion and a rotator-cuff strain, and the diminished velocity that followed has left the club searching for stability in the ninth inning while it keeps sorting through bullpen options.
The Royals said Estvez will undergo exploratory shoulder surgery on September 8, a development that brings a longer-term concern to a role the team has already had to patch together more than once. For a club trying to piece together the back end of games, the focus now shifts from one closer answer to finding the next workable one for the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]