By Dan Hock
Top 5 Cardinals Prospect
ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 10, 2024 – The St. Louis Cardinals have selected the contract of infielder Thomas Saggese (suh-JAY-see) from Memphis (AAA) and he will be in the starting lineup tonight at shortstop against the Cincinnati Reds. He will become the ninth player to make his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2024.
Saggese, 22, was acquired by the Cardinals from the Texas Rangers on July 30, 2023, along with LHP John King and minor league RHP Tekoah Roby in exchange for LHP Jordan Montgomery and RHP Chris Stratton.
The right-handed hitting Saggese is batting .253 with 20 home runs and 67 RBI in 125 games at Triple-A this season. He ranks among International League leaders in hits (121, 10th), runs (75, T-7th) and total bases (210, 7th). In July, Saggese was named Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month. He also won the organizational award in August of 2023 in Springfield (AA) while leading all of Minor League Baseball with 170 hits last season.
Through 440 career minor league games, Saggese has compiled a batting average of .285 with 71 home runs, 285 RBI, 96 doubles, 16 triples and 44 stolen bases while posting an overall on base+slugging of .842.
The 2023 Texas League (AA) Most Valuable Player has started 124 games this season at Memphis playing three defensive positions at shortstop (69), second base (42) and third base (12) and one game at designated hitter.
He is currently rated as the No. 4 prospect in the Cardinals organization by MLB.com and No. 5 by Baseball America. Entering the 2024 season, he was ranked No. 85 overall by Baseball America.
Saggese was originally drafted by the Rangers out of Carlsbad (Calif.) High School in the 5th round of the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft (145th overall). He will wear uniform No. 25.
Outfielder Victor Scott II was optioned to Memphis (AAA) as the corresponding move.
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