The St. Louis Cardinals got more than just the 2023 Texas League MVP when they acquired Thomas Saggese from the Rangers as part of the five-player Jordan Montgomery deal at last year’s trade deadline. They also got a young hitter who is attuned to the mechanics of his craft. For Saggese — Texas’ fifth round pick in the 2020 draft out of Carlsbad High School in California — getting on plane with a pitch and driving it is the goal. The manner in which he positions his body in space is what allows him to do that.
A middle infielder listed at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, Saggese doesn’t look the part of a player who went deep 26 times in 2023 and another 21 times this past season. But regardless of his appearance, the pop is there, as is what our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen has described as a “feel to hit [that] has been the lynchpin of his prospectdom since high school.” Moreover, Saggese has youth on his side. While his slash line with Triple-A Memphis was a humble .253/.313/.438, those numbers came at age 22 (he won’t turn 23 until April). The Cardinals clearly recognize his upside. Saggese got a big league call-up in September and logged 10 hits, including his first big league home run, in 52 trips to the plate.
Saggese — currently suiting up with the Glendale Desert Dogs — talked hitting following an Arizona Fall League game earlier this week.
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David Laurila: How do you feel that you profile as a hitter? Looking at your numbers, I see more home runs than I might have expected.
Thomas Saggese: “I think my best swings just happen to be balls in the air. I feel like I get the ball in the air pretty well and can hit some homers. I don’t think it’s going to be anything crazy, but I would like to hit 20 a year — .300 with 20 homers every year. That’s kind of my goal.”
Laurila: Have you always hit the ball in the air?
Saggese: “It kind of got like that starting in high school. I hit my first home run, then just started hitting homers. For whatever reason, I started getting balls in the air.”
Laurila: How would you describe the mechanics of your swing?
Saggese: “For me, it’s more about the position I get in with my body. I’m a big believer that the position I’m in with my body, whether I’m hunched over, or wherever I am in space, dictates my bat path. If I’m standing upright, I’m always swinging around my spine. If I’m hunched over a little bit, I’m still swinging around my spine, but it’s going create a little more loft. So, it’s about getting into that position to create good swings, good line drive swings, and some loft.”
Laurila: What is your thought process with the swing itself?
Saggese: “I’m trying to kind of go down on the ball and almost catch it with my top hand. Get that ‘down’ feel. If you rotate into your back side and your load, and then get this feel being down to the ball with your spine hunched over, with your head closer to the strike zone on the front side of your toes, you end up swinging up, even though it feels like you’re swinging down.
“If you get that kind of hunch with your torso… Tony Gwynn was in the box with his head way down low towards the zone. That’s kind of the idea. You get into that position and you feel the down move from there. But again, while it feels like a down move to start, the barrel comes up and it ends up being kind of an uppercut swing.”
Laurila: You’re on plane with the ball, which is what you want…
Saggese: “Exactly.”
Laurila: Do you focus on that a lot in the cage?
Saggese: “Yeah. A bunch. In the cage, I’m always trying to get my position. Where am I at? Where are my hands at? How is my load feeling? I think about my load a lot, so how is my rhythm and timing going into my load? Then, how am I holding my position — the position of my body — in terms of where it is in space? How is that throughout my swing? Ideally, if it’s right I should be able to handle everything, every pitch, in the cage. I should be able to hit it with backspin on a line.”
Laurila: When did you begin adopting that way of hitting?
Saggese: “The past couple of years. I started hitting with Marlon Byrd in the offseason. He’s very into mechanics, and he knows his stuff. So, it’s been working with him, and then when I get out here [on the field], it’s, ‘OK, what am I looking for in terms of the pitch?’”
Laurila: Speaking of “out here,” why are you playing in the Arizona Fall League?
Saggese: “The Cardinals asked me to come before I got called up. They wanted to see me get more at-bats and play more second base. I’m happy to be here. I’m playing baseball.”
Laurila: How much did you talk to the veteran hitters while you were with the big league club?
Saggese: “I’ve talked to them a lot. I was in big league camp in spring training, which gave me a lot of opportunities to talk to Nado [Nolan Arenado], Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter, all of those guys. It doesn’t take a lot to pick their brains a little bit. They’re very good people. All of the people up there are very willing to give you their two cents, which is obviously very helpful.”
Laurila: Circling back to working with Marlon Byrd, hitting coaches and swing coaches can be very different. I assume Marlon would be more in the hitting coach category?
Saggese: “He’s definitely more so a hitting coach. He understands the game. He understands what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it. He was ‘a hitter.’ He played. So, definitely more of a coach, and I like to think I’m that way as well. I’m not really too into the analytics of it. I’m more into getting into a position, getting into my spot that I know I’m successful in. If I do that, the analytics will fall into place.”
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Earlier “Talks Hitting” interviews can found through these links: Jo Adell, Jeff Albert, Greg Allen, Nolan Arenado, Aaron Bates, Jacob Berry, Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette, Justice Bigbie, Cavan Biggio, Charlie Blackmon, JJ Bleday, Bobby Bradley, Will Brennan, Jay Bruce, Triston Casas, Matt Chapman, Michael Chavis, Garrett Cooper, Gavin Cross, Jacob Cruz, Nelson Cruz, Paul DeJong, Josh Donaldson, Brendan Donovan, Donnie Ecker, Rick Eckstein, Drew Ferguson, Justin Foscue, Michael Fransoso, Ryan Fuller, Joey Gallo, Paul Goldschmidt, Devlin Granberg, Matt Hague, Andy Haines, Mitch Haniger, Robert Hassell III, Austin Hays, Nico Hoerner, Jackson Holliday, Spencer Horwitz, Rhys Hoskins, Eric Hosmer, Jacob Hurtubise, Tim Hyers, Connor Joe, Jace Jung, Josh Jung, Jimmy Kerr, Heston Kjerstad, Steven Kwan, Trevor Larnach, Doug Latta, Royce Lewis, Evan Longoria, Joey Loperfido, Michael Lorenzen, Gavin Lux, Dave Magadan, Trey Mancini, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Marcelo Mayer, Hunter Mense, Owen Miller, Colson Montgomery, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Daniel Murphy, Lars Nootbaar, Logan O’Hoppe, Vinnie Pasquantino, Graham Pauley, David Peralta, Luke Raley, Julio Rodríguez, Brent Rooker, Anthony Santander, Drew Saylor, Nolan Schanuel, Marcus Semien, Giancarlo Stanton, Spencer Steer, Trevor Story, Fernando Tatis Jr., Spencer Torkelson, Mark Trumbo, Brice Turang, Justin Turner, Trea Turner, Josh VanMeter, Robert Van Scoyoc, Chris Valaika, Zac Veen, Alex Verdugo, Mark Vientos, Matt Vierling, Luke Voit, Anthony Volpe, Joey Votto, Christian Walker, Jared Walsh, Jordan Westburg, Jesse Winker, Bobby Witt Jr. Mike Yastrzemski, Nick Yorke, Kevin Youkilis
