Thursday, July 31

Jac Caglianone and his father, Jeff, on Draft night. (Courtesy: jac.caglianone/Instagram)

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KANSAS CITY -- For as crazy and exciting as the first week in the big leagues has been for top Royals prospect Jac Caglianone, it’s been equally crazy and exciting for his family, who has followed Caglianone from St. Louis to Chicago to back home in Kansas City this week.

When Caglianone recorded his first career hit last week in St. Louis, all he could think about as he ran into second base was that his family was in the stands to see it in person. They got to experience Caglianone’s home debut on Tuesday, too, in a packed Kauffman Stadium, seeing the frenzy that Caglianone’s arrival in Kansas City has caused among the fanbase. It’s not every day that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sits behind home plate at The K.

Through all that craziness, Caglianone has relied on his family’s support, and no one more than his dad, Jeff Caglianone, whom Jac says is the reason he ever picked up a baseball in the first place.

“He’s the reason why I play,” Caglianone said. “He taught me the game. We’d wake up every morning before school and watch 'Quick Pitch' on TV.”

Jac Caglianone and Jeff on his MLB debut night. (Courtesy: Jason Hanna/Royals)

With Father’s Day coming up on Sunday, Caglianone is extra grateful for his dad’s steadiness and support, which has never wavered as Caglianone kept climbing through college, the MLB Draft and now the big leagues.

“He’s definitely the person I’m closest with,” Caglianone said. “He keeps me level-headed with everything.”

Jeff has always loved baseball, but Jac said he never felt forced into the sport -- or anything he did as a kid, for that matter. His parents let him come to whatever he liked on his own. It wasn’t baseball right away; when Caglianone was really little, he remembers thinking the sport was “cool,” but he was more focused on building with Legos.

But when he was 7 or 8 years old, Caglianone hit a home run during a baseball game and recognized that he might be good.

“I was like, ‘Oh this is fun. I like this a lot,’” Caglianone said. “And that’s when I got really into it and said I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player.”

Jac Caglianone and his family on Draft night. (Courtesy: jac.caglianone/Instagram)

It was also the first time he remembers asking his dad if they could go hit in the cage together.

“My dad would never force me to go hit, he would wait for me to ask him to go hit,” Caglianone said. “The day I finally did, he was so happy. My mom told me that years later because my mom knew it was killing him.”

That kicked off hundreds, if not thousands, of cage sessions with Jeff throwing to Jac. Jeff was the first person to introduce Jac to curveballs -- “I couldn’t sniff them,” Jac says now -- and how to hit them. They went over everything together, from scouting reports to specific drills Jac needed to work on.

Even now, Jeff is still the person Jac goes to if things aren’t going well -- or if the whirlwind of the last week, the last few months, the last year catches up to him.

“He’s a good rock for me,” Caglianone said. “When I feel like I’m not playing good or up to my standards, he’s always there to say, ‘Dude, take a deep breath. Reset.’”

Nick Loftin and his son, Liam. (Courtesy: nickloftin2/Instagram)

"Dad life" is real, even in baseball clubhouses. Some Royals dads reflected this week on how becoming a dad has changed them on and off the field:

Nick Loftin, dad to 1-year-old Liam: “It made me more selfless. Earlier in my life, without a baby or a wife, it was more about me. As I’ve gotten older, got married, had Liam, I got a bigger purpose. Taking that into baseball, it’s helped me be more present with my teammates, focusing on them rather than me. And no matter if I have a good day or bad day here, when I walk through the door, Liam is smiling, and I’m just dad. It has given me perspective on life that I never knew I needed.”

Carlos Estévez, dad to 5-year-old Samantha and 2-year-old Scarlett: “Before I was a dad, I didn’t care if I woke up early or late. Now, I need to make sure I’m up early because I got to play with my daughters before going to work. And we are always playing, up until the minute I have to leave. I feel like having kids has given me more character because they look up to me. They expect a lot from me. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy before, but I didn’t know I could get happier.”

Tyler Tolbert made his Major League debut back on March 31 in Milwaukee. Over two months later, he now has his first career hit.

Tolbert -- whom the Royals recalled on Tuesday, when Michael Massey (left ankle sprain) was placed on the injured list -- lined a single into left field on Tuesday night against the Yankees for his first career knock.

“That’ll go up somewhere in my house,” Tolbert said of the ball that was saved. “Something to reflect back to, the journey that this has been up to this point. And it’s good to get the monkey off your back. Now we can just play ball.”

Tolbert played sparingly in his first stint with the Royals earlier this year, mainly used as a pinch-runner with his elite speed, and he logged just five at-bats. But after being optioned to Triple-A Omaha on May 2, Tolbert zoned in on his work at the plate. He slashed .264/.337/.418 with Omaha since he was optioned, and he’s been hitting the ball really well for the past three weeks, with a .980 OPS since May 20.

“Plan and approach,” Tolbert said of his work in Triple-A. “We broke down some mechanical stuff, cleaned that up. And then dialed in on the approach, from pitch type to what the pitchers are doing, identifying my strength and their strengths."

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