Catcher Curt Casali finds a spot in our VandySports 100 at No. 69.
Honors and awards: Southeastern Conference Hitter of the Week (2011)
In the VU record book: Career RBIs: ninth (167)
Before VU: Was a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball at New Canaan (Ct.) High. Was first-team all-state for three years in baseball and one in football, where he quarterbacked the football team to a state title as a senior. Lettered four years in baseball, three in football and two in basketball.
Freshman (2008): Played 28 games, starting 27, on a 41-22 (15-14 SEC) team that finished third in the Tempe Regional. Was the team's third catcher and fielded .981; opponents stole in 16 of 17 tries. Hit .143/.333/.143 in 21 SEC at-bats. Hit home runs vs. Western Carolina and MTSU. Was 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI in a mid-week game with Louisville.
Sophomore (2009): A preseason elbow injury (which required post-season Tommy John surgery) kept Casali from catching as hoped. Split time between first and DH for a 37-27 (12-17) team that finished second in the Louisville Regional. Led the team in RBIs, tied for the lead in home runs and ranked second in on-base percentage. Fielded .984, and .990 in league games, in 448 chances. Started all 29 SEC games and hit .337/.466/.471, with two homers and 24 RBIs. Homered in the SEC tournament final (LSU) and semifinal (Arkansas). Helped VU rally from a 9-2 deficit to beat Florida thanks to three hits, two doubles and three RBIs. Was 7-for-14 with six runs, four RBIs and two homers in the Illinois-Chicago series. Was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks, with five RBIs.
Junior (2010): Was primarily the DH, though he played some at first, for a 46-20 (16-12) team that fell in the Tallahassee Super Regional. Fielded .973. A hamstring injury cost him 13 games that year. Played 22 SEC games, starting 21, and hitting .280/.443/.493, with four home runs and 17 RBIs in regular-season play. Finished third on the team in homers and RBIs. Scored the winning run on a squeeze bunt against Louisville to win the Louisville Regional, and scored the winning run against the Cardinals in an elimination game the day before. Had five RBIs in a win over Georgia. Was 5-for-9 with three walks, four runs and a game-tying homer in the Tennessee series. Was 5-for-10 with six RBIs, four runs and three walks in the Niagara series.
Senior (2011): Was the team's primary catcher. Started 63 of 64 games, including all but one league game, on a 54-12 (22-8) team that shared the SEC and finished tied for third at the College World Series. Fielded .996, and threw out 15 of 47 runners who tried to steal. Hit .345/.417/.522 in SEC regular-season games. Had a string of three-straight multi-RBI games. Reached base nine times in a row in March. Had three hits in a win over Auburn.
Post-VU: Drafted by Detroit in Round 10 of the 2011 MLB Draft, Casali reached the Majors with Tampa Bay in 2014, and has played at least part of a season in the big leagues ever since. He's listed second on the Reds' catching depth chart heading into the 2020 season.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Casali's offensive numbers were inflated due to an offensive-centric era (that changed in his last year, when the NCAA made changes with the bats to tilt the balance back to pitching).
But a .316/.430/.502 career batting line plays well in any era. And Casali would have hit in any era, because he had all the tools as a hitter. He walked 106 times and struck out just 91, and made contact at a 91 percent rate as a senior. He had legitimate home-run power, and his 51 doubles was one shy of the school's top-10 career list.
What suppressed Casali's value a bit was his lack of being on the field for defense. He came in as a catcher, but could never overtake Andrew Giobbi, who was a year ahead of him. Aaron Westlake beat him out at first as a junior, though the hamstring injury probably didn't help him there. To his credit, he caught (and caught well) in 2011, and playing every game but one for VU's first College World Series team. But to add an odd twist, Casali has caught 255 big-league games and registered positive Wins Above Replacement value as a defender.
Casali brought tremendous value with his bat, was a fair defender at an impact defensive position on a historically-good VU team, and a bright guy who represented the program well. He's an easy pick for our top 100, and it's not hard to make a case I should have ranked him higher.
