Víctor Manuel Caratini (born August 17, 1993) is a Puerto Rican 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 ...

for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

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). He previously played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. After catching Joe Musgrove’s no-hitter, he was given the nickname “The Scientist”. Listed at and , he throws right-handed and is a

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

Career

Atlanta Braves

Caratini was drafted by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

in the second round of the

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

out of

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College ...

. He made his professional debut that season with the

Danville Braves The Danville Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in Danville, Virginia. They were an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League and were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have played home games at American Legion Post 3 ...

. After primarily playing third base his first season, Caratini played mostly as a catcher in 2014. He started the season with the

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team served ...

Chicago Cubs

On July 31, the Braves traded Caratini to the

for

Emilio Bonifacio Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio Piazza Memorial School, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (dis ...

and James Russell. The Cubs sent him to the

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...

, where he finished the season. Caratini spent the 2015 season with the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

where he batted .257, with four home runs and 53 runs batted in. He spent the 2016 season with the

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off Int ...

, where be batted .291 with six home runs and 47 runs batted in. After the 2016 season, Caratini played for the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

of 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 ...

and was added to the Cubs 40-man roster. Caratini began the 2017 season with the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. The Cubs promoted Caratini to the major leagues on June 28, 2017. He appeared in 31 games with the 2017 Cubs, batting .254 with one home run and two runs batted in. In 2018, Caratini played in 76 MLB games, batting .232 with two home runs and 21 runs batted in. He made two pitching appearances during the season, both in late July, pitching a total of two innings while allowing two runs for a 9.00

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He also played in the 2018 National League Wild Card Game, grounding out as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, as the Cubs fell to the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, 2–1 in 13 innings. Caratini and Melancon 6

Caratini began the 2019 season as one of the Cubs' two catchers, along with

Willson Contreras Willson Eduardo Contreras (born May 13, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. Contreras made his MLB debut in 2016 ...

. Caratini made another pitching appearance on June 22, pitching a scoreless ninth inning in a Cubs loss to 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 ...

. On the year, Caratini slashed .266/.348/.447 with career-highs in home runs (11) and runs batted in (34) in 95 games for the Cubs. On September 13, 2020, Caratini caught a no-hitter against the

for teammate

Alec Mills Alec Thomas Mills (born November 30, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. The Kansas City Royals selected Mills in the 22nd round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He previously played for the Kansas ...

. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Caratini batted .241/.333/.328 in 44 games for Chicago, with one home run and 16 runs batted in over 132 plate appearances.

San Diego Padres

On December 29, 2020, Caratini and

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...

were traded to the

in exchange for pitcher

Zach Davies Zachary Ryan Davies (born February 7, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondba ...

, Reginald Preciado, Yeison Santana, Ismael Mena, and Owen Caissie. On April 9, 2021, Caratini caught a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers for teammate

Joe Musgrove Joseph Anthony Musgrove (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played within the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, and Pittsburgh Pirates organ ...

, the first no-hitter in Padres history and the second no-hitter he had caught in eight months. There had not been a no-hitter in MLB since Caratini had caught one with the Cubs, which made Caratini the first catcher in MLB history to catch consecutive no-hitters for two different teams. On June 17, 2021, Caratini hit his first career

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

against

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Amir Garrett and the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. In 2021, Caratini played in a career-high 116 games and batted .227/.309/.323 with 7 home runs and 39 RBIs. On March 22, 2022, Caratini signed a $2 million contract with the Padres, avoiding salary arbitration.

Milwaukee Brewers

On April 6, 2022, Caratini was traded to the

in exchange for

Brett Sullivan Brett Sullivan is a London-based Australian-British filmmaker. Born in Sydney, Australia, 1971, Sullivan formed production company Steam Motion and Sound with Julian Chow in 1996. Steam established a UK office in 2003, and a New York office in ...

and Korry Howell. On July 4, 2022, Caratini hit his second career walk-off home run against

Scott Effross Scott Benjamin-Morton Effross (born December 28, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for Indiana University. He was selected in the 15th round of t ...

and his old team, the

. Caratini became the fifth player in major league history to strike out four times before hitting a walk-off home run. In 95 games with Milwaukee in 2022, he batted .199/.300/.342 with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs. On January 12, 2023, Caratini agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million contract with the Brewers, avoiding salary arbitration.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caratini, Victor 1993 births Living people People from Coamo, Puerto Rico Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball catchers Chicago Cubs players San Diego Padres players Milwaukee Brewers players Miami Dade Sharks baseball players Danville Braves players Rome Braves players Leones de Ponce players Kane County Cougars players South Bend Cubs players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Tennessee Smokies players Mesa Solar Sox players Iowa Cubs players Criollos de Caguas players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente catchers