University of Tennessee Athletics
Two Vols Selected on Day 3 of MLB Draft
June 06, 2018 | Baseball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee baseball team had two players selected on the third and final day of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday.
Senior catcher Benito Santiago, along with draft-eligible sophomore pitcher Zach Linginfelter were selected by the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals, respectively. Linginfelter was the first UT player off the board after being picked in the 19th round with the 581st overall pick. Santiago was taken in the 34th round with 1,023rd overall pick.
Linginfelter became the 129th overall player drafted out of Tennessee and was the first UT player drafted by the Nationals' organization since Andrew Lee was selected in the 11th round of the 2015 draft.
As a draft-eligible sophomore, Linginfelter has the option to return to Tennessee next season if he opts not to sign a professional contract by July 15. Linginfelter was previously drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in the 16th round of the 2016 MLB Draft.
This season, Linginfelter started four games, posting a 3-4 record with a 3.93 ERA and a career-best 71 strikeouts through 55.0 innings of work. He led the Vols' staff in strikeouts and finished second on the team with two saves in 2018. In his final appearance of the season at Missouri on May 17, Linginfelter became the first UT pitcher since James Adkins in 2007 to record 14 punchouts.
As a freshman on UT's staff in 2017, he made 22 appearances, including six starts, posting a 3-4 record and three saves for a 3.67 ERA. That year, Linginfelter struck out 61 batters through 56.1 innings of work. His three saves and 61 strikeouts rank among the top five single-season records by a freshman at Tennessee.
Santiago became the 130th overall player drafted out of UT and was the second Vol to be selected in the 2018 Draft. He is the second player to be drafted by the Cardinals organization in the last three years, joining outfielder Vincent Jackson, who was selected by St. Louis in the 14th round of the 2016 draft.
Santiago was previously drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 38th round of the June 2014 MLB Rule IV Draft.
In 2018, Santiago started 54 games as the Vols primary catcher and finished the year tied for the team lead with 15 doubles and seven home runs, both career bests. The senior also set career highs in at-bats (203), RBI (34), slugging percentage (.448) and walks (19). His 34 RBIs ranked second on the team. In non-conference play, Santiago led the team with a .415 batting average, 39 hits, 14 doubles, 24 RBI, 67 total bases, a .713 slugging percentage and .472 on-base percentage.
As a junior, Santiago started 32 of his 33 games and hit .250 with 20 runs scored, six doubles, four triples, three homers and 20 RBIs. His four triples ranked third in the SEC in 2017.
In a breakout sophomore campaign, Santiago recorded a .309 batting average that included 11 doubles, three triples and one home run. He also drove in 18 runs over 53 games and scored 33 runs for Tennessee during the 2016 season.
During his first year with the Orange and White in 2015, Santiago played in 33 games. The Florida native made his first start as a Volunteer during the second game at Florida International (Miami, Fla.) and recorded 10 putouts behind the plate. Santiago later hit his first collegiate RBI-double against Arkansas in the 2015 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
