With it being an off day from playoff baseball and no news breaking on the Royals’ end, I decided to create an edition of “Jottings” focusing on two pieces of content from Just Baseball and one piece from Pitcher List. That includes my latest post on Jac Caglianone and his rookie year, an MLB Division Series Preview, and Pitcher List’s “relief pitcher”-focused podcast, which handed out their end-of-the-season reliever awards.
The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Cags’ Royals Debut
Even though there was tremendous hype for Jac when he was called up in June, it was a deflating season for the rookie 1B/OF. He hit .157 with a .532 OPS in 232 plate appearances (though he did hit seven home runs). I wrote about some of the promising aspects of Cags’ rookie year, as well as some of the areas of struggle at Just Baseball.
Here’s a tidbit from my latest Just Baseball post:
A primary issue with Caglianone in his MLB debut wasn’t his ability to hit the ball hard, but rather his inability to hit the ball in the air.
The 22-year-old had a groundball rate of 50.6%, which was 6.4% higher than the league average. Furthermore, his AIR%, which combines fly balls, line drives, and pop-ups, was 49.4%, 6.4% lower than the league average. He also had an average launch angle of 4.1 degrees, 8.3 degrees lower than average.
When looking at his launch angle trend this year, it was consistently below the league mark by a wide gap, not a good sign for a “power” hitter. He also showed a significant drop toward the end of the season after he returned from the IL in September.
You can find the entire piece in the Tweet above or at the Just Baseball website. I hope to write there more in the offseason, especially once the “hot stove” season begins.
Division Series Preview on the Just Baseball Show
I was 2-for-4 in my Wild Card picks. I hit on the Tigers and Dodgers, but was wrong in the Cubs-Padres and Red Sox-Yankees matchups. In this round, I predict things will go like this in the Division Series, using BetMGM’s series odds.
- Brewers (-120) over Cubs
- Blue Jays (+130) over Yankees
- Phillies (+100) over Dodgers
- Mariners (-185) over Tigers
Furthermore, here are my Royals Reporter “rooting rankings” for this Divisional round.
- Brewers (Never won a World Series and Bob Uecker)
- Mariners (Never been to a World Series and good fanbase)
- Blue Jays (Good fanbase and Canada’s team)
- Phillies (Dancing on My Own is a fun victory song)
- Tigers (They have some playoff ghosts, so they’re an underdog)
- Cubs (Not as fun to cheer for, especially after the 2016 World Series and with the Cardinals’ demise)
- Dodgers (eww)
- Yankees (the Worst)
The Just Baseball Show broke down the American and National League Division Series in their latest episode, which can be found below.
I look forward to playoff baseball returning tomorrow.
Reliever Pitcher Awards on PL Podcast Network
In addition to Just Baseball, I also write for Pitcher List, which produces a lot of high-quality podcasts. One is in the ‘Pen, a fantasy podcast that focuses explicitly on relief pitcher analysis. Considering relievers can be volatile in fantasy baseball, hosts Jake Crumpler and Rick Graham do a good job of breaking down the performances of relievers widely rostered, and ones available on waivers.
In their latest episodes, they handed out their reliever awards for the 2025 season, with Royals closer Carlos Estevez getting some love after his 42-save season, which led all MLB relievers.
Check out the latest In the ‘Pen podcast and all the great podcasts available on the Pitcher List Podcast Network (where I sometimes come on as a guest).
Photo Credit: Jeff Le/Getty Images