The Kansas City Royals emphatically returned to Kauffman Stadium with a 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers. That was in large part due to a career game from outfielder Jac Caglianone. MLB.com’s Anne Rogers looks at how the lefty slugger found success on Tuesday night.
After Jac Caglianone’s 11-pitch walk in the second inning and the home run in the fifth inning, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker likely didn’t want Nathan Eovaldi facing the Royals’ young slugger a third time, not with Kansas City having just
taken the lead, clearly starting to see Eovaldi well and a lefty up and ready in the Rangers ‘pen.
How did Caglianone respond to that move?
By crushing the lefty, too.
Caglianone powered the Royals to a 5-3 series-opening win over the Rangers on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, their third consecutive victory and sixth in the last eight games, ever since they left Texas nine days ago after getting swept by this same Rangers team.
It was Caglianone’s second career multi-homer game, and first since he hit his first two home runs of his career on June 19, 2025 – also against this Rangers team.
The Kansas City Star’s Jaylon Thompson detailed how Caglianone took over in the Royals’ series-opening win.
Rogers also detailed how Caglianone, catcher Salvador Perez, and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. all returned to the lineup Tuesday night after an off day.
The Royals’ star exited Sunday’s game against the Twins early with right knee soreness, dealing with a persistent ache that was affecting the way he played. The Royals got him out of the game before it got worse and were optimistic that it wasn’t going to be a serious injury. Testing that was done Monday, along with his recovery on the team off-day, confirmed that.
“I feel good,” Witt said. “I feel like there are a lot of other worse things that would keep me out of the lineup, so I feel good and am ready to go.”
The Royals waited a bit longer to release their lineup on Tuesday in order to make sure Witt was healthy. He hit on the field and did all his normal work, which allowed him to check all the boxes he needed to be ready for Tuesday night.
“Make sure I can do everything I can and not do something to make it worse,” Witt said. “Know that there’s a tolerance to pain or whatever, and that’s just part of the game. And know that there’s nothing that can get worse, and I can go out there and be myself and play the way I play.”
Royals outfielder Kyle Isbel exited the win early with an injury, which the team later disclosed as left foot plantar fascia.
Isbel injured himself rounding first base following a single in the bottom of the seventh inning. The 29-year-old was rounding first base with intentions of stretching a single to left field into a double when he quickly decided against it.
Isbel then dove back into first base and was slow to get up due to an apparent leg injury.
Royals athletic trainer Kyle Turner came out from the first base dugout and checked on Isbel, who then exited the game, walking gingerly into the Kansas City dugout.
Could this open the door for Kameron Misner to make his move to Kansas City after his hot start in Omaha?
Bleacher Report looks at a big starting pitcher trade if the Royals decide to punt on the 2026 season.
The Trade: Kansas City Royals send RHP Seth Lugo and RHP Michael Wacha to the Chicago Cubs for IF Jefferson Rojas, OF Kevin Alcántara and RHP Jaxon Wiggins
How Realistic Are We Talking?
The general notions of “Cubs want to add pitching” and “Royals figure to be deadline sellers” are both extremely realistic.
But are the Royals willing to unload more than just their expiring rentals?
Both Lugo and Wacha are signed through 2027 with club options for 2028 and aren’t cheap or getting any younger. The Royals could trim about $12M from their 2026 payroll and $40M from next season’s allocations if they were to trade these veteran arms away.
Meanwhile, the Cubs are surely looking for multi-year solutions to their rotation. Both Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon are headed for free agency (and not pitching well this season anyway). Cade Horton is likely to miss most, if not all of next season while recovering from UCL surgery.
The Athletic’s power rankings out Kansas City at 28th, with the only choice for an All-Star representative.
The case for: SS Bobby Witt Jr., I guess?
I’ve really tried to pick players who aren’t the obvious choice for this exercise. If we’re making a case for a player, it means that they’re not already a shoo-in, right? But the case for Witt is that there really isn’t anyone else worth making a case for right now.
Maikel García has been the team’s second-most valuable player, but third base is pretty stacked in the AL, and García has been just pretty good. Michael Wacha, maybe? Are we suggesting that a 3.44 ERA with 67 strikeouts and 26 walks over 81 innings is All-Star worthy? I’m not.
Even Salvador Pérez has an OPS under .600 this year. Sorry to be boring and predictable, but I can’t find any other limb quite sturdy enough to support an argument.
Witt is the lone Royals representative in ESPN’s All-Star roster prediction.
Caleb Moody responds to MLB Network ranking Witt seventh in the AL MVP field.
To say that other guys are more valuable than Witt seems like a complete falsehood this season. Not only is Witt statistically the most valuable player in the league, and thus to this Royals team too, he’s completely outpacing this entire Royals lineup. The next highest fWAR total to Witt’s 3.8 is Maikel Garcia at 1.4, who also happens to be the only other position player above a 1.0 this season. If we’re talking about value, it’s terrifying to think where this Royals lineup would be without him.
Amsinger stated earlier that the writer’s love wins above replacement, which in essence means that MVP voting is teetering more towards a complete game. And there’s no denying that Witt might be the definition of a complete player with his excellent hitting and power abilities, world class defense and incredible speed on the basepaths.
Week over week, game over game, Royals prospect Blake Mitchell is still “an organizational paradox” according to Royals Keep.
A little over a week has passed since Blake Mitchell almost single-handedly pounded Quad Cities, the Kansas City Royals’ High-A affiliate, past Midwest League rival Cedar Rapids. Mitchell slammed two homers and drove in seven runs as the River Bandits won 11-6 on May 29.
Just a night later, though, Mitchell went 0-for-4 and struck out three times. He fanned twice in another hitless, four at-bat night in the Bandits’ next game.
In a sense, it’s been that kind of season — and career —for Mitchell, an obviously gifted young catcher the Royals hope someday vindicates the big gamble they took on him in the 2023 amateur draft, when they spent the eighth overall pick to get the fresh-out-of-high-school catcher. The risky move defied the conventional wisdom that prep catchers aren’t good high draft choices.
Whether Mitchell has, or will, prove the Royals’ dice roll was worth it remains to be seen. His minor league numbers reflect alluring tendencies to get on base and hit home runs, but also striking statistical inconsistencies. The question for Mitchell and the franchise is thus this: Will he make it?
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