Reactions to the Royals’ 2024 draft class

The Royals add some talent.

This week, the Royals selected 20 players to join the organization and could add more as they sign undrafted free agents. The 2024 draft class was headlined by Jac Caglianone, a slugging first baseman for the Florida Gators who will also pitch. In addition to the two-way Caglianone, the Royals selected 15 pitchers, two outfielders, one infielder, and one catcher. Their draftees included 16 college players, and three high schoolers - including one that took a gap year to recover from Tommy John surgery.

Here are the reactions to the Royals’ draft class.

The Royals were surprised that Jac Caglianone fell to them at #6.

“The talent was too good to pass up,” scouting director Brian Bridges said.

“The fact that he just about hit the ball out of any ballpark in the country, he’s shown that,” Bridges continued. “I love the way he plays the game. … Plays hard, loves his teammates, has a desire to win and kind of put his team on his back this year and showed some growth and maturity.”

The Royals will let him pitch as well as hit.

“The plan is to build off of what I did in the past couple of years in college,” Caglianone said. “Really just developing on the pitching side of things as well as the offensive side of things.

“I’m very thankful they’re giving me the opportunity to do both. I won’t let them down.”

Thompson writes about Caglianone’s nine-game home run streak in college.

They liked the strike-throwing ability of second-round pick David Shields.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” scouting director Brian Bridges said. “We offer him a lot in player development that he’s never been exposed to, and him being young, he has time on his hands.

“... He has a really good feel for pitching. Throws a lot of strikes. Seventeen years old, so there’s a lot more growth. The fact that he throws strikes and has three pitches and competes is definitely something I was drawn to with him.”

The Royals went heavy on college pitchers on day two of the draft.

“It gets to a certain point where your pool, if you have a lot of picks, you can spread your money out,” scouting director Brian Bridges said. “You had those teams that had all those extra picks that were moving money around, so they could go with the prep guys.

“Most of them were in the $2.5-3 million range. Couple of them went in the $2 million range, so it kind of starts squeezing you out. To go with heavy college, these kids want to go play.”

Fourth-round pick L.P. Langevin has a very unique four-seamer with a high whiff rate.

“You can’t really tell what it’s going to do,” scouting director Brian Bridges said of the heater. “Hitters will tell you, when he throws a ball that’s a hittable pitch, they swing at it like they didn’t see it or they swing right through it. He’s such a competitor and doesn’t think about those things, and he hasn’t been exposed to a lot of analytics and things that can help him. So we look forward to getting him out to Arizona. He’s a fun guy.”

Eric Longenhagen at Fangraphs has a high ceiling for Caglianone.

He takes a lot of feckless swings at stuff nowhere near the plate. I have a source who has been scouting for as long as I’ve been alive who thinks Jac is one of the most talented players he’s ever seen and that Caglianone’s skills have played down because he was asked to do so much at Florida. His ceiling is in the exosphere, and if he can hit it and peak at the same time Bobby Witt Jr. does, it’s going to change that franchise.

Kiley McDaniel at ESPN agrees.

I’ve been slow to fully come around on Caglianone, skeptical given his chase rates for the past two springs. But over this past spring, as I dialed in to his unique aspects and outlier abilities, I moved him to No. 4 on my board — and No. 39 on my top 100 prospects once he signs. He was rumored to be in the final mix at every pick from Nos. 1 to 5, with No. 6 to K.C. perceived as the furthest he would drop. The Royals are doing things well at the big league level right now and might’ve found a franchise player if it all clicks.

Keith Law of The Athletic wonders where Caglianone will end up on the field.

The Royals get the biggest power bat in the draft in Jac Caglianone, who has 40-homer potential if he can rein in some of his aggressiveness at the plate.

Caglianone was a two-way player at Florida who was up to 99 as a left-handed starter with a power slider, but the consensus was that he’d be a reliever in the end and he’s already had one TJ; his ceiling is much higher as a bat, and I’ll be very curious to see if the Royals try him somewhere other than first base, as he’s a good enough athlete for an outfield corner and certainly has the arm for right.

He also loves the second-round pick.

I also love the pick of left-hander David Shields at 41. He earned very high marks for his delivery and feel to pitch, and I’m all about taking high schoolers who have those things and whose big velocity may be a few years down the line.

Alden Gonzalez at ESPN also thinks Caglianone could move to the outfield.

Gonzalez: The Royals being able to get Jac Caglianone at No. 6 was pretty big. Caglianone was announced as a two-way player, but he will likely only hit — and he will hit well. He has 30- to 50-home-run power, doesn’t bring any platoon concerns as a left-handed hitter and, as an added bonus, should develop into a plus defensive right fielder.

Jared Perkins at Farm to Fountains reviews the entire draft class.

Beam is one of the safest floor arms in the 2024 MLB Draft and is likely one of the most underrated picks of the draft. He doesn’t possess anything flashy in his pitch mix, but there is a high probability he is a big league starter, even if it is a back end of the rotation type player. He’s been one of the most reliable arms in college baseball with a fastball of 92-96 mph. He’s been able to get it up to 98 mph. He pairs it with a curveball, cutter, and changeup. Changeup is likely his best secondary as it grades above average and has been a legit weapon against lefties. He’s another guy who fills out the strike zone.

Preston Farr at Farm to Fountains writes about the approach the Royals took with the draft.

Bridges praised Drew Beam’s command of the strikezone and Jac Caglianone’s immense power. Of catcher Canyon Brown, he called him “elite” behind the dish, praising the elite arm strength that passes the eye test. Second-round selection, David Shields, is an athletic lefty with good projection and youth on his side. Bridges raved about his command of the strike zone and also praised the athleticism that made Shields a two-way star in high school. In many ways, the returns on this year’s draft class were focused on many of the traditional things the Royals have looked for over the years. At least, until they weren’t.

On day two of the draft, Bridges sounded more like an analytical mind. “When I went to San Francisco with Farhan [Zaidi], I learned a lot about the spin rate and carry,” Bridges said of his time after Atlanta. Bridges moved on from Atlanta after the 2018 season, catching on quickly with the Giants as a national cross-checker. Of the eight picks the team made on day two, seven were college pitchers. Bridges ran down the list Monday night, listing the different traits that stood out from each arm.

Fans chimed in.

Patrick Mahomes was all-in.

Vinnie welcomed his Italian paisano.