The risk is in their youth, which is the reason the Royals won’t want to put all the pressure on them and are searching for other bats to help. Most young players go through challenges as they settle in, and the Royals will want to protect both themselves and the player when that happens. After dominating in the Minor Leagues, Caglianone struggled with Kansas City following his promotion in June. He hit just .147 with a .485 OPS in his first 41 games, missed about a month with a hamstring strain and finished the season with a .157/.237/.295 slash line across 62 total games.
“Last year was a tough year for him,” Picollo said. “I also think about how much we threw at him, from Double-A to Triple-A to the big leagues. Playing right field. There were a lot of things that were just not normal for him last year. It’s why we believe he’s going to figure this thing out. What we don’t know is how quickly he figures things out. But the only way he’s going to get better is by facing Major League pitchers. He’s a huge part of our team, our future, and he’s got to get those at-bats somehow. He’s got to play. How much he plays, it’s really going to be dictated by how he’s performing.”