'Very surreal': Saggese makes Major League debut

ST. LOUIS -- Thomas Saggese’s first sign that something might be in the works came when Triple-A Memphis athletic trainer Dan Martin messaged him on Sunday and asked if he had his passport with him. Then, after a few nervous minutes, Memphis manager Ben Johnson called Saggese with word that he was headed to St. Louis for his Major League debut.

The first call that Saggese, 22, made was to his father, but not before he tried to calm his emotions, which had his heart racing and pulse pounding.

“It's very surreal, you know?” said Saggese before making his MLB debut on Tuesday in the Cardinals' 3-0 loss to the Reds at Busch Stadium. “Excitement, nerves and my heart was beating real fast. Just really excited, and unlike anything else I have ever experienced. That's for sure.”

Saggese was acquired by the Cardinals from Texas in July 2023 in the deal that centered around left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who helped the Rangers win the World Series. With the Cardinals resting rookie Masyn Winn on Tuesday, Saggese got his first MLB start at shortstop and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts -- the final one coming in the ninth inning with the bases loaded.

“I’ve been nervous for every game I’ve ever played in my life, so this wasn’t new to me if that makes sense,” said Saggese, who is the Cardinals' No. 4 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. “I’ve been more nervous for games than this one, ironically. But in the second inning, I got that first ball from [Ty] France and I felt pretty comfortable in the field. After my first at-bat, I got that one out of the way, and I felt like it was back to regular baseball.”

Victor Scott II, who had seen his playing time dramatically reduced since the return of Michael Siani following an oblique strain, was optioned to Triple-A Memphis for the second time this season.

The highlight of the night for Saggese came in the fifth inning. He jumped on the first fastball he saw from Rhett Lowder and hit a ball that might have been a homer if he had kept the ball fair. On the 2-2 pitch, Saggese hit a changeup squarely that left the bat at 108.4 mph, but it was right at Reds left fielder Spencer Steer.

“He’s going to take really good at-bats, and we’ve seen it quite a bit in Spring Training and in Triple-A,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s going to take a great at-bat, make contact and find barrels and spray it all over the field as a gap-to-gap guy. I really like watching him play. He’s a ballplayer.”

In the hours after his promotion, Saggese said he thought back on his journey to the Majors and how he is still playing to honor his late mother, Wendi, who died of breast cancer in 2020 while he was a high school senior at Carlsbad, Calif. Before each game, Saggese writes “MORE” on his wrist because when he would tell his mother that he loved her, she always responded, “I love you more.”

“My mom definitely moved mountains to give me every opportunity that I could have, so that popped in my head,” said Saggese, who expected to have nine family and friends in the crowd at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night for his debut. “All the sacrifices my parents made popped in my head. And then all of the work that I’ve put in -- there were a lot of swings, a lot of ground balls, a lot of good swings and bad swings.”

The 22-year-old has slashed .253/.313/.438 with 20 home runs, 23 doubles, three triples and 67 RBIs in 125 games with Triple-A Memphis. Defensively, he has played in 70 games at shortstop, 42 at second base and 13 games at third base. In 593 1/3 innings at shortstop, the 5-foot-11, 185-pounder has committed 10 errors while turning 47 double plays.

Saggese, a fifth-round pick by the Rangers in the 2020 MLB Draft, won the Double-A Texas League MVP award in 2023 by hitting .306 with 26 home runs and 111 RBIs with Frisco (Texas) and Springfield (Mo.). He finished the 2023 season at Memphis, and he was among the final cuts that the Cardinals made in Spring Training.

Saggese said he thought for years that he would someday play in the big leagues, and he continued to think that even when he struggled for months early this season at Memphis. He hit just .211 in May and .209 in June, but he has played much better since the start of July. And he comes to St. Louis after batting .320 with three doubles, a home run and four RBIs in seven September games.

“[Confidence] definitely helps a lot,” Saggese said. [Getting to the big leagues] is definitely something that I believe and have always believed -- sometimes even questioning why I believed that -- but [confidence] is something I’ve always rooted myself in and it’s something that has helped me through my struggles. I still believe it to this day that I can compete at this level. And now it’s time to prove it.”