Royals top prospect is playing right field for Double-A Northwest Arkansas tonight. Its the first career outfield work for the lefty power hitter, who had played exclusively first base since being drafted with the #6 overall pick last summer. Caglianone had been a two-way star at the University of Florida, but his only defensive work for the Gators also came at first. Its an interesting development considering the Royals have (yet again) gotten very little production from their outfield. Kansas City outfielders were hitting .191/.252/.280 going into play on Thursday. Theyre second from the bottom in MLB in all three slash stats ahead of the White Sox in batting average and slugging, while leading the Braves in on-base percentage. Theyre tied for the major league low with four home runs. Thats not a new problem. MLBTRs Steve Adams wrote about the Royals longstanding outfield woes in a post for Front Office subscribers . In the nearly full calendar year since then, their outfield has hit .225/.282/.364 in more than 1700 plate appearances. GM JJ Picollo acknowledged in February the front office was disappointed they were unable to land a significant upgrade during the offseason. The Royals ran an Opening Day outfield of , and for the second straight season. They shook things up by optioning Melendez last week. has drawn into the lineup instead. Hes Evan Fournier Jersey playing well in a tiny sample, but hes a career .233/.307/.400 hitter who has fanned in a third of his big league plate appearances. Renfroe has followed last years .229/.297/.392 showing with a dismal .164/.258/.200 slash through 62 trips to the dish. Caglianone topped 30 home runs in each of his final two seasons at Florida. He struggled over 29 High-A games after the draft, but hes out to a much stronger start this season. He owns a .300/.374/.529 line with four homers and doubles apiece at Double-A. If hes not quite on the radar for a major league call yet, a midseason promotion isnt far-fetched. College hitters selected in the upper half of the first round often reach the big leagues during their first full profe sional season. Two such players, and , are already in the majors. The path would be a lot cleaner if Caglianone can play a pa sable right field. is the everyday first baseman. While they dont have a set DH, sees a good amount of time there to keep him in the lineup when hes not catching. Caglianone could run his fastball into the upper 90s as a pitcher, so he certainly has the arm strength. The far bigger question is whether hes mobile enough to play anywhere other than first. Hes listed at 65, 250 pounds and unsurprisingly grades as a below-average runner on scouting reports. It appears the Royals will at least gauge his outfield ability in the minors. In more immediate news, the team is awaiting word on . The star left-hander came out of this afternoons start after three innings, during which he allowed four runs to Colorado. writes that Ragans was hampered by left groin tightne s and will go for further testing tomorrow. The Royals have used a rotation comprising Ragans, , , and all year. and could have pushed Lorenzen for the fifth starter spot, but they each opened the season on the injured list. Marsh has battled shoulder sorene s dating back to the offseason. He was shut back down a few weeks ago after suffering renewed discomfort, but skipper Matt Quatraro told reporters that hell restart a throwing program tomorrow ( ). D.J. Augustin Jersey