Royals Reportedly Call Up Former Monroe Star, Nick Dini (Written by: Greg Tufaro, Bridgewater Courier News)
Staten Island, NY | Kansas City, MO- Former Wagner College catcher,
Nick Dini, has earned his first Major League call-up with the Kansas City Royals, the organization announced via Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
Jon Heyman, Insider at MLB Network, first reported the transaction earlier this morning.
"The entire Wagner baseball family is so thrilled and proud of Nick as he makes his Major League debut with the Kansas City Royals," said Wagner head baseball coach
Jim Carone. "
Nick is one of the best players and people we have had in our program and we couldn't be more excited to watch him achieve his dream of being a big-league ballplayer."
The Monroe Township, NJ native was a 14th round selection of the Royals in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft and was in the midst of his fourth professional season when he got the word that he was major league bound.
In 58 games this season at the Triple-A level with the Omaha Storm Chasers, Dini has impressed offensively, batting .296 with a .370 on-base percentage, a .565 slugging percentage and a total OPS of .934. The right-hander slugger has also swatted 13 home runs, swiped seven bags and has driven in 36 RBIs.
(Clip below of Dini begins at 01:00 as part of back-to-back-to-back home runs from the Omaha Storm Chasers).
Back in 2018, while in Double-A with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Double-A), Dini was selected to the 2018 Texas League All-Star game. He appeared in 80 games for the Naturals that season, batting .239 with eight home runs and 37 RBI. For the year, between Omaha and Northwest Arkansas, he batted .250 with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs.
Dini was a vital part of the 2015 Seahawks' squad that clinched the No. 2 seed in the NEC Championship. The versatile backstop became
Wagner's first-ever NEC Player of the Year, after winning the league's batting title with a .400 regular season average. He led the Green & White with 69 hits, 18 doubles, seven home runs and 44 RBIs, while going 14-15 in stolen base attempts.
He finished his career as Wagner's all-time leader in games played (215) and games started (215). His single-season record of 180 assists, back in 2014, still is the mark to beat. Dini is second in all-time at-bats at Wagner, with 793, while ranking among the top-three in hits (245), doubles (48), sacrifice flies (13), total bases (359), and intentional walks (6).
He is among the top-five in career RBIs (143), triples (9), slugging percentage (.453), and stolen base attempts (56).
Dini broke the then all-time hits record in the first game of the May 9, 2015 doubleheader at Sacred Heart, where he smashed a two-run home run over the left-field wall that gave him hit No. 245, a record that stood until 2018.
Among his many collegiate accolades include:
When Dini's name is posted into the Kansas City Royals lineup card, he will become the fourth Seahawk in program history, and first since Andrew Bailey, to appear in a Major League Baseball contest. Dini joins:
