Jac Caglianone is making some noise in Arizona

If this were the regular season, this entry would be quite different and potentially unhinged. The Royals held an 8-0 lead through four and a half innings on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They lost 13-10. Ahhh, spring!

Instead of losing my mind over an epic blown lead, I’m insanely excited because Jac Caglianone did this to a baseball.

Scalded, this was a meaty 3-1 pitch, right in the nitro zone. It was also the fourth consecutive four-seamer Caglianone saw. The previous pitch, at 3-0, was in almost the exact same location.

So let’s assume he was ready for that exact pitch in pretty much that exact location. Fine. Caglianone still has to execute. He still has to bring the barrel of the bat through the zone on a perfectly exact plane. If he’s off by an inch on either side, he’s not going to square up the baseball as well as he did. When he squared it up, hooooooo boy. That ball had an exit velocity of 120.2 mph.

Sound up!

That is some rarified juice. In fact, in the Statcast era, only seven players have ever hit a baseball with that kind of ferocity in the regular season. Giancarlo Stanton has done it a whopping 16 times. He's strong. Oneil Cruz has destroyed a baseball like that six times. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Aaron Judge, Gary Sánchez, Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. have each hit a ball with an exit velocity greater than 120 mph one time. Add up the instances and what Jac Caglianone did to that baseball on Thursday has happened just 27 times in the regular season since 2008.

Sure, it’s spring training, but Jac Caglianone hit a baseball 120.2 mph! It was 120.2 mph!!! That moment, that destruction, is why the Royals are going to put him in the lineup pretty much every single day. Oh, and the fences at The K are coming in. What I’m saying is that when it comes to Cags, keep the faith. This could be quite fun.

It was a good day for Royals hitters. In addition to the Caglianone laser, Carter Jensen went 3-3 with his first bomb of the spring and Michael Massey finished his day 2-3. This is good. While I've written that I cannot be bothered with Cactus League statistics, I do care (obviously!) about exit velocity. That's just doing the business, no matter if the opposition's ace is on the mound or it's some non-roster scrub. Exit velocity matters. With that in mind, I present the exit velocities of the nine balls put into play between the aforementioned three hitters.

Jac Caglianone - 120.2 mph
Michael Massey - 107.9 mph
Carter Jensen - 105.6 mph
Jac Caglianone - 102.3 mph
Carter Jensen - 102.2 mph
Jac Caglianone - 99.0 mph
Michael Massey - 97.2 mph
Jac Caglianone - 95.9 mph
Carter Jensen - 54.6 mph

That last one from Jensen is kind of cute. And it went for a single!

As noted when talking about the Cags double, this kind of exit velocity, this early in camp, is very encouraging, indeed. In fact, several of the Royals regulars have been stinging the ball in the early going.

Should we dream on another exhibition of power from Salvador Perez this season? He looks locked in with an average exit velocity of 100.2 mph. Six of his eight measured batted balls have been over 100 mph off the bat.

Among Royals with more than five measured batted balls, here is the current Royals exit velocity leaderboard:

I'll probably feel like a fool in mid-April when the offense is scuffling, but this looks impressive...sample side be damned. Maybe this is some sort of misguided spring optimism, but I see some consistency, even if it has been just a week.

Then there's this nugget from Sarah Langs:

Things never got on track for Caglianone when got to the big leagues last summer. Last year his average exit velocity in Triple-A—where he raked—was 93.9 mph. In the majors it was 89.4. That's not what anyone wanted to see. We know—and have discussed this at length—the potential is there. He just needs to figure out a way to unlock it somewhere other than the minors or spring training. This is a good potential launching pad.

I think there are plenty of cheap home runs in the Cactus League. Batting average doesn't tell the whole story. In spring, neither do other rate stats such as OBP and slugging percentage. But when a batter makes perfect contact with a ball...yeah, that matters. I don't care where or when it happens.

Baseball America is sweating the backfields in Arizona. They filed a very exciting report on right-hander Kendry Chourio:

The 21-year-old’s fastball sat 96–97 mph with excellent command when I saw him, and his curveball hinted at added bite, powered by shoulder strength and sharper depth. Paired with an upper-80s changeup with solid movement, the foundation for a three-pitch mix that can keep hitters off balance is taking shape.
Chourio has added roughly 10 pounds of muscle this offseason, bolstering durability and the potential for his stuff to play deeper into outings. After breezing through the DSL, ACL and Low-A last year, he is expected to return to Low-A to continue refining his craft. Currently ranked No. 82 on Baseball America’s prospect list, he has the potential to flirt with top 25 territory by season’s end if his stuff and poise continue to grow.

If you watch only one video from the backfields this spring, make it this one.

Friends, when I saw that first Chourio curveball, I let out a gasp.

As you'll recall, Chourio was an international signing from Venezuela last winter. He opened the year in the Dominican Summer League and advanced to the Arizona Complex League. That in an of itself is rare; international signings rarely make it stateside in their first year. Chourio further distinguished himself by getting promoted to Low-A Columbia. And he turned 18 just last October!

Keeping with the prospect talk, I’m starting to have some, let’s say mild concerns about Ben Kudrna. The local product from Blue Valley Southwest opened the 2025 season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and did will with a 9.1 SO/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 94 innings. He posted a 4.21 ERA and 3.53 FIP before earning a late season bump to Omaha.

His opening salvo in the International League did not go as well. Each of his four appearances were a struggle. He made three starts, throwing 10.2 innings with 15 walks and 16 runs allowed. His final outing, out of the bullpen, was awful. He faced five batters, walked two, hit another and was charged with two runs allowed in 0.2 innings.

At the moment, it wasn’t difficult to explain away the end to Kudrna’s season. It’s a long year and a big jump from Double-A to Triple-A. Baseball America, in ranking him as the 13th best prospect in the organization, referred to his bumpy introduction to the higher level as “expected growing pains.”

Alas, those pains still seem present.

In his first Cactus League outing, the Royals allowed him to throw 37 pitches over two innings against the San Diego Padres. He allowed six hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. Six of the balls put into play against him had an exit velocity north of 95 mph. His most recent outing was on Thursday against the Diamondbacks. The good news was he only walked one batter and limited the hard contact to just one ball with an exit velocity greater than 95 mph. He also had a 33 percent whiff rate, including four swings and misses on his slider.

He got through a clean first inning of work, striking out two. He gave up a pair of doubles and a single in his second frame and wasn’t helped by a throwing error from Abraham Toro. Kudrna exited after walking a batter. HIs reliever, Brandon Johnson, didn’t help Kudrna’s box score as he promptly served up a bomb which charged the prospect with two more runs.

Mind you, I’m not ringing any alarm bells here. There was some progress on Thursday and after all, this is his first time in camp as a member of the 40-man roster so, while he was never in the mix to make the Opening Day squad, there is still some pressure to put up a good showing. There was more to like in this appearance, I can’t help but think the kid could really use a clean appearance soon.

Here are the upcoming pitchers for the next two spring games. We have a Cole Ragans sighting!

Friday vs Sacramento:
Bailey Falter
Nick Mears
Lucas Erceg
Carlos Estévez
Hector Neris

Saturday vs Colorado:
Seth Lugo
Cole Ragans
Eli Morgan
Mason Black
Frank Mozzicato

Matt Strahm was set to make his spring debut on Thursday but was a scratch as he was attending to what the team said was a personal matter. I figure he will slot into one of these games if he’s available.