Chicago Cubs at Kansas City Royals

Two nights ago, Salvador Perez was mic’d up on ESPN and talking about his teammate hitting in front of him in the lineup, Jac Caglianone. “For me, he’s the strongest young guy I’ve ever met in my life,” Perez said. “Lifting, the other day, he was 600 pounds squatting. He’s only 23 years old. I’m like, ‘Jac, come on, man.’” Salvy sees Caglianone’s strength in the weight room. And we all get to see the strength on the field on a night like Saturday night, when Caglianone unleashes his powerful left-handed swing to put together the best night of his young career. Caglianone went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBIs Saturday in the Royals’ 6-3 win over the Cubs at Kauffman Stadium, evening the series ahead of Sunday’s series finale. He became the first MLB player this year to hit two doubles and two homers in a game. The last to do so was Junior Caminero on May 31, 2025. No Royal had ever done it before in franchise history. Caglianone is also the seventh Royal with four extra-base hits in a game and the first since Kendrys Morales on Sept. 20, 2015. Caglianone is the youngest Royal to do it. “Really impressive, literally from left field to right field,” manager Matt Quatraro said, noting Caglianone’s four hits were sprayed to all parts of the field. “Hard-hit, different pitch types. Obviously, we know he’s got huge power, and we saw that throughout the night. He just seemed really calm at the plate throughout the night, and that was a really good sign.” It’s a great sign for Caglianone and the Royals. There are few things more important than the continued development of Caglianone and Carter Jensen as the Royals head into their final 44 games of the season. The young sluggers have been everyday players for most of the season, but seeing them finish strong is crucial. They’re going to be major parts of next year’s campaign. That means seeing the results, like we saw for Caglianone on Saturday, but it also means minimizing mistakes and making adjustments. Caglianone has endured his ups and downs this year, and he’s finding his swing again after a quieter July.