Get to know No. 6 Draft pick Jac Caglianone
Brian Murphy
@Spokes_MurphyWhen you draw comparisons to Shohei Ohtani, you're going to garner a high level of hype and attention. But the University of Florida's Jac Caglianone -- otherwise known as "Jactani" -- has lived up to the hype during his career with the Gators.
Here's what you need to know about the two-way star, who was selected No. 6 overall by the Royals in the 2024 Draft.
FAST FACTS
Position: 1B/LHP
Ht/Wt: 6-foot-5, 250 lbs.
B/T: Left/left
DOB: Feb. 9, 2003
College: Florida
High school: H.B. Plant High (Tampa, Fla.)
Born: Tampa, Fla.
MLB Pipeline ranking: 3
MLB Draft selection: No. 6 overall (Royals)
Power at the plate ...
Caglianone has always prided himself on being a two-way player, but he was recruited by the Gators as a pitcher. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery prior to his 2022 freshman season, leaving him with a choice: sit out the year to rehab or forgo a redshirt season and try to contribute as a designated hitter.
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Some eye-opening batting practices made the decision easy for Caglianone and the Gators. He hit seven homers and had a .548 slugging percentage through 104 at-bats in his first collegiate season.
He was back to full strength in 2023, and he flexed his muscles by setting single-season program records for home runs (33), RBIs (90) and total bases (208).
¡°I had no idea he was going to become a Greek god," Gators head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said of Caglianone in 2023.
He upped his homer total to 35 this season, the second-most in Division I behind No. 3 overall pick Charlie Condon. Caglianone finished the year with a fantastic .419/.544/.875 slash line.
As he belted some truly majestic homers in his junior campaign -- including one dinger that flew an estimated 516 feet -- Caglianone also drastically cut his K rate. He recorded more than twice as many walks (58) as strikeouts (26).
... and power on the mound
Caglianone finished his Tommy John recovery and was back on the mound in the fall of 2022. In 2023, he limited hitters to a .190 average over 18 starts. Armed with a fastball that touches 100 mph, a 90 mph cutter, a slider and a changeup, the left-hander struck out 170 batters through 148 1/3 innings over the past two seasons.
However, Caglianone has had some trouble harnessing all that power. He had 55 walks, 10 wild pitches and 14 hit-by-pitches as a sophomore. Although his walk rate remained high in 2024, (50 walks through 72 1/3 frames), Caglianone has been able to land his pitches in the zone more often.
¡°Shohei¡¯s definitely the guy that I've looked to ever since he's busted on the scene, just kind of his work ethic and how he goes about things, it's been really helpful for me navigating through the college season," Caglianone said.
¡°I'd love to [be a two-way player] at the professional level. But if a team ... is very adamant about me just doing one or the other, then I gotta make it work somehow.¡±
Nine times? Nine times!
Homering in back-to-back games? That's cool. Going deep in three consecutive games? Wow, what a feat!
How about a home run in nine consecutive games? No one has ever done that in the Majors, but Caglianone put together such a streak from April 6-19 this season, tying an NCAA record. Oh, and he was the starting pitcher in two of those nine games.
Help from a Cy Young winner
Caglianone's improvement as a pitcher this season came from plenty of hard work in the offseason. But that's not all. He received some valuable instruction from four-time All-Star and 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee.
"One of my buddies is actually good friends with Cliff and his family, and they had watched a few of my starts this past year," Caglianone said in January on the Schoch Factor Podcast. "I got a text from him saying that he would be interested in working with me in the offseason.
"A week before we had to get out to campus for the fall, I went over there and basically cut up with him for about four or five days and really talked a lot about the mental side of things as well as just timing of your delivery -- what it should be and kind of where I was at and building off of where I was already at. The biggest thing that I took away from Cliff is probably a new grip on my fastball as well as a lot of mental edges that I'm going to be selfish and keep to myself."
He's an outdoorsman
Caglianone clearly eats and sleeps baseball. There's not much downtime when you are trying to be the best hitter and pitcher you can be. But what does he do when he's away from the diamond?
"If I'm not eating, I'm probably sleeping," Caglianone told MLB Central in April.
OK, he does more than that though. Caglianone lists fishing and hunting as a couple of his hobbies. He said on the Schoch Factor Podcast that following his 2023 season -- after his Gators reached the College World Series Championship and he played 10 games with USA Baseball -- he spent some time catching snook and trout in his hometown of Tampa and hunting ducks in Arkansas with his father, Jeff.
By the way, Caglianone is named after his father; Jac is an acronym for his given name, Jeffrey Alan Caglianone.
Does he have any weaknesses?
Jac Caglianone: good at baseball. We've established that. So, is there anything he can't do?
"Soccer," he told Schoch and Jake Mintz of the Schoch Factor Podcast last year. "My mom's family, they're from Spain, big soccer people. Tried it out while I was growing up. They called me 'The Vacuum' because all I would kind of do is knock kids over and get a bunch of penalties and stuff. It wasn't really my thing."
Between Jactani, Jachammer, Cags and The Vacuum, he sure does have a lot of nicknames.