Thomas Darren Saggese (sÉ™-JAY-see; born April 10, 2002) is an American professional baseball infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.
Amateur career
Saggese attended Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, California. As a junior in 2019, he hit .422 with 10 home runs over 102 at-bats. He batted .440 with three home runs over seven games in 2020 before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professional career
Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers selected Saggese in the fifth round with the 145th overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the club for $800,000, forgoing his commitment to play college baseball at Pepperdine University.
Saggese made his professional debut in 2021 with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Low-A East, batting .256 with 10 home runs, 37 RBI, and 11 stolen bases over 73 games. He opened the 2022 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A South Atlantic League, where he was named the Rangers' Minor League Player of the Month for July. He was promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League for the seasons final week and playoffs. Over 103 games between the two teams, he slashed .312/.361/.506 with 15 home runs, 70 RBI, 25 doubles, and 12 stolen bases. Saggese received the Texas Rangers 2022 True Ranger Award, and was named to the South Atlantic League postseason All-Star Team. He returned to Frisco to open the 2023 season.
St. Louis Cardinals
On July 30, 2023, the Rangers traded Saggese, John King, and Tekoah Roby to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton. He was assigned to the Springfield Cardinals of the Double-A Texas League before being promoted to the Memphis Redbirds of the Triple-A International League in early September. Over 139 games played, Saggese slashed .306/.374/.530 with 26 home runs, 111 RBI, and 34 doubles. After the season, he won the 2023 Texas League Most Valuable Player Award.
On September 10, 2024, Saggese was selected to the 40-man roster, promoted, and made his MLB debut against the Cincinnati Reds in replacement of Brendan Donovan, who was out due to a foot injury. In 18 appearances for the Cardinals during his rookie campaign, Saggese batted .204/.250/.306 with one home run and four RBI.
Saggese was optioned to Triple-A Memphis to begin the 2025 season. The Cardinals promoted Saggese to the major leagues on April 2 when Nolan Gorman went on the injured list.