OMAHA, Neb. — Texas A&M employed an extreme defensive shift against Jac Caglianone on Saturday night at the College World Series, spacing four players evenly across the outfield while three infielders occupied the right side of the diamond.
As with almost every strategy used to neutralize Florida’s slugging first baseman, it failed. Caglianone drilled a single through the shift in the eighth inning and roped a double into the right field corner at 117 mph in the sixth.
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Caglianone reached base in four of five plate appearances, including a walk in the top of the ninth inning with the tying run at first base. Ultimately, the Gators stranded five baserunners in the final two innings and struck out 16 times in a 3-2 defeat in their return to the CWS after losing to LSU in the championship series a year ago.
And so, the season for Florida rides on Caglianone, its presumptive starting pitcher Monday afternoon in an elimination game against NC State. The junior All-American — one of the game’s most feared power hitters in years — is also one of Florida’s top arms.
This elimination-game scenario makes sense. The Gators wouldn’t be anywhere near Omaha this season without Caglianone, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound left-hander projected to be one of the top picks in the first round of the MLB Draft on July 14.
His improvement in 2024, even after producing 33 home runs with a slash line of .323/.389/.738 a year ago, is staggering. Caglianone this year is slashing .414/.536/.862 with the same 33 homers. He’s more than tripled his walk total (from 17 to 53) and cut his strikeouts from 58 to 25 while posting a 5-2 mark on the mound over 72 ⅔ innings in 15 starts.
Third-year Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle, who spent 18 seasons at TCU and served two stints with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, said he’s never seen a better defensive first baseman than Caglianone.
I mean he does EVERYTHING! @jac_caglianone#SCTop10 x 🎥 SECN / @GatorsBB pic.twitter.com/jAvPqzPtuU
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 21, 2024
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said he can’t remember the last time Caglianone made a mistake on the base paths.
“Pardon the phrase, but he’s a freak,” said ESPN baseball analyst Ben McDonald, the former star pitcher from LSU who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Orioles in 1989. “He’s different.”
The 21-year-old Caglianone reminds McDonald of Pirates’ rookie sensation Paul Skenes, the top pick a year ago out of LSU.
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Skenes hit and pitched at Air Force in 2021 and 2022 before his transfer to LSU allowed him to focus on pitching. Imagine the jump with his bat, McDonald said, that Caglianone will make if the team that drafts him asks him to focus only on hitting. And unless the Gators make a run to the championship series, it’s possible that Monday could mark his final appearance on the mound.
“I think he’s going to climb quick,” McDonald said. “If you’ve seen him up close, the body looks like a linebacker. He’s so athletic, and he is smooth. That’s what caught my eye about him this year. I thought, ‘Wow, this kid can go play first base right now in the big leagues.’
“He’s an elite athlete. Like Paul Skenes was last year, he’s just head and shoulders above most.”
The linebacker description fits, but Caglianone is built as much like a power forward. His legs resemble tree trunks. He wears size 17 shoes. It translates well on the baseball field.
In Florida’s 17-11 win against Nebraska in the Stillwater Regional two weeks ago, Caglianone crushed a ball over the right field wall that exited his bat at 119 mph.
MONSTER MASH by JAC 😈
💥 119 MPH off the batpic.twitter.com/fnzpXR3sUC
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 2, 2024
“For most of us, we’re kind of used to it,” said Tyler Shelnut, the second-year Florida outfielder. “But you don’t get to play with too many guys who are as talented as he is.”
Caglianone is fun to watch, Shelnut said. But this season has delivered more than just thrills in Gainesville. It’s brought frustration. After the Gators won 54 games a year ago, led by Caglianone — a Golden Spikes Award finalist as a sophomore — and had six players selected in the MLB Draft, they nearly missed the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
Florida finished 28-27 in the regular season and 13-17 in the SEC. But it got hot this month and won two elimination games against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, then swept Clemson on the road in the Super Regionals last weekend.
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The Gators are no underdog in Omaha, making their sixth visit in the past nine seasons, but they’re playing with an unusual kind of freedom in June. It’s almost like the pressure is gone after an inconsistent regular season, Shelnut said.
Caglianone’s attitude epitomizes that renewed confidence.
“I think he’s matured a lot,” Shelnut said. “He’s grown up as a man and learned how to handle himself better. He’s grown into an adult. When you’re like Jac and all eyes are on you and everybody’s watching, there’s a big responsibility. He’s done a very good job of being able to handle that.
“It’s his day-to-day. He’s a humble kid. He’s not looking for the attention. He’s just here to play baseball.”
McDonald sensed the same in visiting with Caglianone ahead of this CWS. In 1989, with the draft and the CWS occurring simultaneously, McDonald felt pressure playing on a big stage at that vulnerable moment. He lost starts against Miami and Texas, one before the draft and the other after it.
He asked Caglianone about being in a similar spot. McDonald, who spent parts of nine seasons in the big leagues, liked what we heard.
“He said, ‘You know what? I think about it,’” McDonald said. “‘But I know this is my last ride with Florida. I’ve done what I’m going to do. I don’t think I can change where I’m going to get drafted based on what I do in one tournament.’
“He just seems to be locked in. I asked him about pressure. He said, ‘Look, there’s always pressure.’ I mean, the bar that he set last year was pretty high. You can’t help but have it in your mind. The intent is to focus and to be in the moment. But he really seems to be enjoying this experience.”
Caglianone went 5 for 26 with two homers in six games last year at the CWS. This year, he looks like he’s having fun.
After the Gators practiced on Friday, he signed autographs for young fans while standing on the warning track near first base for 20 minutes. It would have been longer had he not been pulled away to attend the mandated media availability.
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Caglianone said the pressure to perform has subsided as the team has enjoyed more success.
“The biggest thing for me has been playing for each other to get to this point,” Caglianone said. “We’ve bought in to wanting the team success over individual success. It’s helped propel us and motivate us to get to where we are now.”
Showing more patience at the plate has keyed his offensive improvement. He showed discipline in the final inning against A&M. Down 1-2 in the count with two outs, he took three balls and drew a walk. It moved Michael Robertson into scoring position.
“Not being upset with talking walks is one thing that I wanted to work on,” Caglianone said. “I’m kind of really just buying into the approach that, at the end of the day, I just want to win. So focusing on that has kind of cleared pretty much all the other stuff up.”
The Aggies were happy to oblige. Reliever Evan Aschenbeck didn’t dare leave a pitch over the plate for Caglianone, who represented the go-ahead run.
According to Schlossnagle, the A&M coach, the only effective way to approach Caglianone is to pitch to him with no runners on base. The defensive shift is often meaningless, Schlossnagle said, because if Caglianone hits the ball in the air, it’s probably going to clear the fence.
“He’s looking to do damage from the first pitch,” Schlossnagle said.
Despite his ridiculously well-rounded game, cartoon-like physicality and the jump in his numbers, Caglianone was not named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award this year.
It was a mistake, said McDonald, who won the honor in 1989 and was elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.
O’Sullivan, in his 17th season as the Florida coach, said he believes some of Caglianone’s gifts and his impact on the Gators go overlooked because he simply does everything so well.
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“He’s a complete baseball player,” the coach said.
Fortunately for the Gators, no slight for an award or individual disappointment will deter Caglianone.
“All the ups and downs and the highs and lows of the season, at the end of the day, we’re here,” he said. “So there’s not really much else to worry about from the past. You just have to keep looking forward.”
(Top photo: Dylan Widger / USA Today)