Nicholas Carl Dini (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

in the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

organization. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Early life and amateur career

Dini was born on Staten Island, NY, he later moved to Monroe, New Jersey and attended Monroe Township High School. At Monroe, Dini became the school's all-time leader in hits (160), runs (128), doubles (41), triples (10), home runs (23) and RBI (117). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

. As a senior, Dini was named the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

Player of the Year and third team All-America by

Louisville Slugger Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

after batting .392 with 44 RBI and 26 extra-base hits. Dini also set school records for hits (245), at-bats (793), and games played (215).

Professional career

Dini was selected by the

in the 14th round of the

2015 MLB draft Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. After signing, Dini was assigned to the rookie-league

Idaho Falls Chukars The Idaho Falls Chukars are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and play their home games at Melaleuca ...

and hit .316 with four home runs and 29 RBIs in his first season of professional baseball. In 2016, Dini appeared in only 20 games with four different minor league teams due to injuries, batting .319 with nine RBIs. Dini began the 2017 season with the Class A

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends ha ...

and was promoted to the Double-A

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The ...

hitting a combined .302 batting average with four home runs and 36 RBIs. He was selected by the Royals to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Royals ...

following the end of the season. He started 2018 with Northwest Arkansas and was named a reserve to the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

All-Star Game, batting .239 in 80 games before being promoted to the AAA

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at Wer ...

for the rest of the season. He hit .333 with three home runs and six RBIs in 14 games with Omaha. Dini was non-roster invitee to Royals spring training in 2019, but did not make the team out of camp and was assigned to AAA.

Kansas City Royals

Dini was called up to the Major Leagues on August 7, 2019, after catcher

Cam Gallagher Cameron Joseph Gallagher (born December 6, 1992) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals. Professional career Kansas City ...

sustained an injury. He made his big league debut that same night as a pinch hitter for

Meibrys Viloria Meibrys John Viloria Oquendo (born February 15, 1997) is a Colombian professional baseball catcher in the Cleveland Guardians organization. He was the 2016 Pioneer League MVP. He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals and Texas ...

and remained in the game as catcher. The next day, August 8, 2019, he made his first big league start at catcher against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and collecting his first career hit, a single off Matt Hall, while going 1–3 with a walk and a run scored. On August 19, 2019, Dini hit his first major league home run off of Gabriel Ynoa at Camden Yards in a 5–4 win over the Orioles. Dini finished his rookie season with a .196 batting average, two home runs, six RBIs and 11 runs scored in 20 games played. He also threw out four of ten attempted base stealers for a 40% caught-stealing average. Dini was designated for assignment on November 20, 2019.

New York Mets

On November 29, 2021, Dini signed a minor league deal with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 15, 2022, Dini signed a minor league deal with the

References

External links

Wagner Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dini, Nick 1993 births Living people Baseball players from New Jersey Idaho Falls Chukars players Kansas City Royals players Lexington Legends players Major League Baseball catchers Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players People from Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey People from Staten Island Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Staten Island Surprise Saguaros players Wagner Seahawks baseball players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Arizona League Royals players Syracuse Mets players