Florida baseball two-way superstar [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] was selected sixth overall in the 2024 MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals on Sunday night.
Caglianone, a projected top-five pick coming into the draft, saw a bit of a draft-night slide, but he’s still the highest-drafted first baseman in Florida Gators history. Appropriately, Caglianone passed [autotag]Matt LaPorta[/autotag] (seventh overall in 2007) on that list, the same legendary Gators slugger he overtook for the program’s career home run record at the College World Series.
As the sixth overall pick, Caglianone is tied with RHP John Burke (1991) and LHP A.J. Puk (2016) for the fourth-highest drafted Gator, regardless of position.
Caglianone is the 14th first-round selection out of Florida since the start of the [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] era in 2008. O’Sullivan has produced 106 MLB draft picks with the Gators, with more to come in this draft.
Jac Caglianone as a Florida Gator
Caglianone is among the greatest hitters ever to wear the Orange and Blue. He leaves Florida as the program’s career record holder for home runs (75) and slugging percentage (.760). His home run record is particularly impressive considering he did it over just two and a half seasons.
A pitching prospect with two-way ability out of high school, Caglianone started his Gators career as an expected redshirt freshman recovering from Tommy John surgery. Caglianone likely never makes it to Florida without the elbow injury and perhaps never establishes himself as a viable two-way player at the next level.
After a few Home Run Derby-like performances from Caglianone during batting practice, Kevin O’Sullivan put him into the starting lineup as a designated hitter. Cags never left Florida’s lineup and eventually became the most feared hitter in the SEC.
As a true freshman, Caglianone slashed .288/.339/.548 through 28 games (27 starts) and 104 at-bats. He also homered seven times and drove in 27 batters.
Caglianone followed things up with a Golden Spikes finalist-caliber performance. He upped the slash line to .323/.389/.738 and shattered Wyatt Langford’s single-season program record for homers with 33 — Langford hit 26 in the 2022 season. Caglianone also set the program’s single-season record for runs batted in with 90.
Although it seemed impossible to improve on those numbers, Caglianone did exactly that, somehow missing out on a Golden Spikes finalist nomination in the process. He slashes .419/.544/.875 with 35 home runs and much better metrics.
Caglianone improved his approach at the plate, showing off an elite eye with his pitch selection in the nation’s toughest conference. Oh yeah, he started 34 games as Florida’s regular Sunday starter over two seasons, too.
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