Royals' Jac Caglianone: Goes sixth overall

The Royals have selected Caglianone with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 First-Year Player Draft.

While Caglianone was announced as a two-way player (first baseman, lefty pitcher), his avenue to providing fantasy value is as a slugging position player. In many ways, he's like the college version of Giants 2023 draftee Bryce Eldridge -- he's talented enough to be developed as a pitcher in pro ball, but he'd be assigned to one level as a pitcher and a higher level as a hitter, so scrapping pitching feels inevitable. Caglianone is a power-over-hit prospect whose production has steadily improved over his three years at Florida. He is so strong that he can hit home runs out to all fields even when he doesn't fully square the ball up, and when he does square it up, he's capable of hitting it 500-plus feet with a metal bat. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound lefty slugger slashed .414/.536/.862 with 33 home runs and a 53:25 BB:K in 63 games as a junior, but he had a 17:58 BB:K in 71 games as a sophomore, and swing-and-miss/chase concerns will follow him unless he sheds them in the upper minors.