SURPRISE, Ariz. -- It was early September last season when Jac Caglianone sat back in his clubhouse chair and took a deep breath.
“I’ve already got a list going,” Caglianone said then.
He was talking about what he wanted to work on in the offseason. After a frustrating debut season in 2025, Caglianone had an early idea of what his winter needed to look like, and he cross-referenced that list with what his dad, Jeff, thought as well as what the Royals wanted him to work on when the season ended.
Now many months later, as Caglianone embarks on his second Spring Training and second season with the Royals, several points on those lists have been crossed off, but the work hasn’t stopped. In some ways, it’s just beginning.
“We did a lot,” Caglianone said Friday. “And I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Caglianone, the Royals’ 23-year-old behemoth outfielder with a swing that can crush baseballs into new orbits, received something of a rude awakening when he made his debut in 2025, less than a year after the Royals drafted him No. 6 overall out of Florida in ‘24. He slashed .157/.237/.295 with seven home runs in 62 games. The exit velocities and the barrels and the bat speed were all there for him, but so too were the chase, whiffs and strikeouts. In August, he was mashing baseballs again while on a rehab assignment in Triple-A. The big leagues were tougher.
Sixty-two games is far from a large sample size, and certainly not enough to count a young player with as much upside like Caglianone out. The Royals aren’t by any means; they’re giving Caglianone some runway to establish himself as an everyday player for them in 2026. He still has to earn it, but right now, the Royals see him as playing a lot in right field to begin the season. Performance will dictate the rest.
“When I went to go see him [in Tampa] in January, he [was] completely open to what he learned from last year and how he wants to make corrections and move forward from last season,” Royals hitting coach Alec Zumwalt said. “He’s come in here and is in a great spot mentally and physically.”
The most important thing Caglianone worked on this offseason was swing decisions. He felt he got himself out “a lot more than the pitchers did,” he said. Whether that was because he was seeing the best stuff he’s ever seen in his life at the Major League level or because of the subconscious pressure he put on himself -- or very likely both -- Caglianone wanted to be more prepared for what he was going to face in 2026.
“One of the biggest things I took away from last year was these guys are really good at throwing strike-to-ball pitches,” Caglianone said. “Out of the hand, it looks really good, and it ends up being a 58-foot curveball.”
On the field he trains at in Tampa, Caglianone’s batting practice pitcher -- his dad -- set up about 30 feet away from the plate to throw a firm BP.
“It helps train that quick reaction time,” Caglianone said. “Swing: Yes or no? That was the biggest thing we did.”
Mechanically, Caglianone focused on keeping his weight balanced rather than being so front-foot heavy and crashing forward while swinging, a small tweak that could reap large benefits.
Mentally, Caglianone worked on a reset. Last year was certainly difficult, but it doesn’t define him. He journaled about all that he experienced, going from Spring Training to a rapid ascension in the Minor Leagues to the big leagues over the course of a few months. He talked to the people close to him about it.
And he tried to learn from it.
“Learning new ways to attack it when things don’t go well for a couple of games instead of hitting the panic button too quickly,” Caglianone said. “Realizing that you’re good. It’s just baseball. That’s the biggest thing.”
A wrinkle this spring for Caglianone is his participation on Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, but the Royals see that opportunity as a good thing for his development. Playing in meaningful games in the spring in a tough environment against tough competition can be an added bonus once he returns to camp and gears up for the regular season.
Caglianone certainly hopes so -- because he’s ultra-focused on helping the Royals win in 2026. If they do, he’s going to play an important role.
“Playoff atmosphere every day in the WBC, so hopefully I’ll know what it’s like from there and bring it back to go do it with this team with that energy,” Caglianone said.