Jac Caglianone earns promotion to Omaha

Frank Mozzicato is also moving up to Northwest Arkansas.

The Royals player development social media account has announced the promotions of former first-round draft selections Jac Caglianone and Frank Mozzicato to Omaha and Northwest Arkansas, respectively.

Caglianone will be of the most interest to Royals fans. After an absolutely fantastic Spring Training, Jac didn’t miss a beat when he was assigned to Northwest Arkansas. He ends his time there with 43 RBIs in only 38 games. He also slashed .322/.394/.553/.947 while hitting nine home runs. Of particular concern to many were his swinging strike rate and strikeout percentage. Before Sunday’s action, they were a very reasonable 12.4% and 21.2% respectively. That strikeout rate was seventh-best in all of AA.

Mozzicato was dominating high-A in his fourth professional season after being drafted out of high school in 2021. He had a 1.24 ERA for the River Bandits and struck out more than a batter per inning, though his walk rate was somewhat high with 22 in 36.1 innings.

Many fans wanted Caglianone to break camp with the big league club, but the Royals are taking things somewhat slower. Not that much slower, as it has been less than a year since he was drafted, and he’s already changed positions to play some right field and will now be only one step away from the big league roster.