Washington Signs Catcher JC Santini for 2023
WASHINGTON, Pa. (April 10) – The Washington Wild Things have signed catcher JC Santini to a contract for 2023, the team announced today.
Santini was teammates with newly-signed outfielder Turner Hill in the MLB Draft League during the summer of 2022, playing with the West Virginia Black Bears. That came after one season at Northwestern, where Santini transferred to from St. Mary’s (CA). With the Black Bears, Santini drove in 11 and hit two home runs and three doubles. In 170.1 innings behind the dish, Santini made just one error (.995 fielding percentage) and threw out 12 of 25 would-be base stealers, good for a 48% clip.
At Northwestern, he drove in 14 with two home runs and walked 23 times to the tune of a .357 on-base percentage.
“JC comes to us with the reputation of being an excellent receiver and an outstanding thrower. In his years in college he threw out almost 50% of would-be base stealers, which is an almost unbelievable number,” said manager Tom Vaeth. “I’m really excited to watch this young man compete and watch his transition/development into a professional ballplayer.”
He played his first four college seasons at St. Mary’s, appearing in three. He missed the entire 2020 shortened season with a back injury. As a freshman, he played in 15 games and drove in three with nine walks. He drove in 12 and walked 28 times versus 30 strikeouts in 158 plate appearances in 2019 as a sophomore and in 2021 he drove in 10 in 38 games. That season he threw out 13 runners trying to steal bases.
Santini is the third catcher on the roster for the upcoming season, which starts with Spring Training at the end of the month. He joins Melvin Novoa and Laurington Williams on the roster.
The most up to date roster is available on the Wild Things’ website. The league’s transaction page is available here.
