Former California high school star gets MLB call-up from Cardinals

Thomas Saggese his .422 with 10 home runs during his junior season at Carlsbad High School in 2019

Carlsbad High graduate Thomas Saggese will make his MLB debut on Tuesday night / Rich Storry-Imagn Images

Infielder Thomas Saggese, a top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system, was called up on Tuesday to make his Major League Baseball debut.

Saggese, a 2020 Carlsbad High graduate, was a fifth round selection by the Texas Rangers and signed with the club for $800,000. The Rangers traded Saggese to the Cardinals at the trade deadline in 2023.

“I knew if I were to get drafted, I just want to have a good amount of money invested in me and I got pretty close to my number (from the Rangers)," Saggese told SBLive shortly after being drafted in 2020. “It happens once in a lifetime and I couldn’t pass it up.”

After playing his first two high school seasons at Rancho Bernardo High, Saggese transferred to Carlsbad as a junior. He had a breakout season, hitting .422 with a .500 on-base percentage. He had five doubles, three triples and tied for the San Diego Section lead with 10 home runs. Following the season, Saggese played in the San Diego Section All-Star game alongside Marcelo Mayer and Spencer Jones, who are currently among the top prospects in the minor leagues.

Thomas Saggese was one of eight participants in the 2019 San Diego Section Home Run Derby at Petco Park / Bodie De Silva

“As a junior, I just ran into a couple balls and got them into the air for whatever reason," Saggese said in 2020. “When I was 15, I was a good hitter, but it was more just line drives.

As a senior, Saggese picked right back up by hitting .440 with three home runs, three triples and a double in seven games for the Lancers before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season after just seven games. Saggese had signed to play at Pepperdine following high school but as his status rose later in his high school career, the professional route became an immediate option.

Saggese was hitting .253 with 23 doubles, 20 home runs and nine stolen bases this season for the AAA Memphis Redbirds. He'll bat seventh and play shortstop for the Cardinals in his debut on Tuesday night.

-- Bodie De Silva | bodie@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca

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