Is Jac Caglianone the next Shohei Ohtani?

The 2024 baseball season is in full effect for MLB, MiLB, and NCAA. Shohei Ohtani is one of the best players in all of baseball however this season he is not pitching due to an elbow injury he suffered last season which led to him undergoing Tommy John surgery. Ohtani for his career as a hitter including this season entering today has a batting average of .276 with a .925 OPS; he has 139 doubles, 30 triples, 175 home runs, 447 RBI, 443 runs scored, 89 stolen bases, and 358 walks. As a pitcher, he has made 86 starts going 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA, a 3.30 FIP, a 1.08 WHIP, and 608 strikeouts. He has won two MVPs in 2021 and 2023, he has two silver sluggers, he was an All-Star three times in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and won Rookie of the Year in 2018; he also finished fourth in Cy Young voting in 2022. There is currently a player in college who is trending towards potentially being the next Shohei Ohtani and he is Jac Caglianone and he plays for the University of Florida.

Jac Caglianone

High School

Caglianone attended Henry B. Plant High School in Tampa, FL. In his senior year, he hit .371 with three home runs and as a pitcher, he had a 2.44 ERA, 65 strikeouts, and two saves in 37.1 innings. He was the sixth-ranked player in Florida and the top LHP, he ranked as the third-ranked overall pitcher and the fourth-best bat. Overall he ranked as the fourth overall LHP and the 33^rd player in the country. He was the 14^th overall pitcher and the 19^th overall hitter.

College Career

Caglianone ended up tearing his left ulnar collateral ligament in an All-Star game and he had planned to redshirt his freshman season but ended up just playing designated hitter. In 28 games he hit .289 with a .887 OPS; he had six doubles, seven triples, 27 RBI, 19 runs scored, and five walks. In his sophomore year in 71 games, he hit .323 with a 1.126 OPS; he had 14 doubles, two triples, 33 home runs, 90 RBI, 74 runs scored, four stolen bases, and 17 walks; he led the country in home runs. He also made his return to the mound making 18 starts going 7-4 with a 4.34 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts in 74.2 innings.

This season Caglianone in 36 games is hitting .400 with a 1.343 OPS; he has two doubles, 21 home runs, 43 RBI, 43 runs scored, one stolen base, and 21 walks; he is currently second in the country in home runs. Caglianone hit a home run last night against Jacksonville and that continues his current streak as he has hit a home run in his last seven games, during that stretch he is hitting .360 with 13 RBI. This season on the mound he has made eight starts going 4-0 with a 3.89 ERA, a 1.39 WHIP, and 49 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. His most recent start came on Sunday against South Carolina in which he went five innings, he gave up three runs on four hits; he walked four and struck out five, but picked up the win.

Future

Caglianone is ranked as the fifth overall prospect by MLB Pipeline for the 2024 draft. Most mock drafts have him going anywhere from picks 3-6 to either the Colorado Rockies, Oakland A’s, Chicago White Sox, or the Kansas City Royals. The season he is off to has been fun to watch but the question remains will it translate to the professional game and whatever team drafts him will they let him do both like Ohtani does or will he only be allowed to do one? Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds was a RHP and a shortstop and he ended up only being a pitcher. Caglianone has a lot of talent and pop in his bat, he should be allowed to do both when he gets his shot. The game of baseball is changing and the talent is continuing to get better and better.