Jon Berti

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Jonathon David Berti

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Biographical Information[edit]

Jon Berti is an infielder who reached the big leagues in the last days of the 2018 season. His father, Tom Berti, played in the minors.

Berti hit .400 as a high school junior, then .467 as a senior with school records for runs scored (66), hits (66), steals (40) and triples (8). As a teenager, he hesitated between baseball and hockey, as he was a talented goaltender, but opted for the summer sport. The Oakland A's took him in the 36th round of the 2008 amateur draft, one pick before Jack Armstrong Jr. He went on to college, hitting .368 as a freshman, the best by a Bowling Green freshman in 33 years. As a sophomore in 2010, he produced at a .423/.482/.577 clip with 62 runs scored in 54 games while fielding .934. He led the MAC in average, tied Drew Turocy for 8th in runs scored, was 6th in hits (93), tied for second in triples (6, 3 behind Adam Eaton) and was second in steals (one behind Eaton). He made All-Conference at shortstop. He hit .356/.448/.500 and fielded .923 in 2011, while going 18-for-23 in steal attempts. He was 5th in average, 3rd in OBP, tied for third in triples (6) and 5th in steals.

The Toronto Blue Jays picked Berti in the 18th round of the 2011 amateur draft, making him the highest draftee from Bowling Green since Nolan Reimold; the scout was Nick Manno. He debuted as a pro with the Vancouver Canadians, hitting .291/.387/.376 with 23 steals in 28 tries and 37 runs scored in 60 games. He fielded .974 at second base and led the Northwest League in times hit by pitch (12), was third in swipes (behind Jesus Galindo and Jace Peterson) and was 6th in OBP. He was named the loop's All-Star second baseman, joining Paul Hoilman (first base), Joe Panik (shortstop) and Jimmy Comerota (third base) and Travis Whitmore (third base) as the NWL All-Star infield. He fielded better (.984) in 2012 but hit worse overall for the Lansing Lugnuts (.281/.391/.362 in 60 games) and Dunedin Blue Jays (.190/.301/.287 in 50 games). He did have 7 triples, 60 walks and 34 steals in 45 attempts. He was 4th in the Jays chain in triples and tied Anthony Gose for third in steals (behind Kenny Wilson and Kevin Pillar). With Dunedin for all of 2013, he produced at a .250/.338/.323 clip, stole 56 bases in 75 tries and scored 85 runs. He led the Florida State League in runs (9 more than runner-up T.J. Rivera), steals (20 ahead of #2 Zeke DeVoss) and caught stealing (5 more than Alen Hanson), was 8th in walks (57) and 10th in times plunked (tied with 11). He tied Andy Burns for the most runs by a Toronto minor leaguer, led in steals by 18 over Dalton Pompey and was caught stealing the most (5 more than Burns). Joining the Canberra Cavalry for the 2013-2014 Australian Baseball League, he served as their leadoff hitter in the 2013 Asia Series when they became the first Australian team to win an Asia Series; he scored 3 runs in the finale against the Uni-President Lions.

He made his major league debut on September 26, 2018, starting at second base against the Houston Astros and going 1 for 3. He started the season with the AAA Buffalo Bisons and, after a couple of weeks, his contract was sold to the Cleveland Indians organization. He hit .217 in 25 games for the Columbus Clippers and was sent back to Toronto on June 8th. In the Jays organization, he hit .250 in 4 games for Buffalo and .314 in 72 games for the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats, who won the Eastern League playoffs. His belated call up was seemingly a reward for being a loyal organizational soldier coming off a solid minor league season at age 28, as he was not considered a prospect. He was sitting at home in Troy, MI when he got the call, his presence being necessitated because both Devon Travis and Lourdes Gurriel were unavailable for the final four games of the year. He made the most of his unexpected opportunity, starting and hitting safely in all four games, and ending up batting 4 for 15 (.267) with a double and triple and 2 runs scored and driven in, showing that he could be a useful player. At season's end, he was granted free agency. Berti signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins for 2019 and surprised many with a solid season (abbreviated to 73 games due to injuries and starting the year with the AAA New Orleans Baby Cakes). In 287 plate appearances, Jon batted .273/.348/.406 with 6 home runs, 17 stolen bases and 52 runs scored for a 1.4 bWAR. He seemed to delight in torturing the New York Mets, lighting them up to the tune of a .372/.400/.581 line in 10 games (45 plate appearances).

He was back with the Marlins in the abbreviated 2020 season, and was once again showing up the Mets, with a highlight reel play on August 25th. In the second game of a doubleheader, he walked, and stole second and third base. The special play then occurred when pitcher Jeurys Familia failed to hold him at third base, and he took advantage of C Ali Solis, making his first start behind the plate, lobbing the ball back to the pitcher, to take off for home. He made it safely in spite of stumbling along the way, putting his hands on the ground four times to maintain his balance, as the Mets were taken completely by surprise and Solis failed to hold on to Familia's relay back. Manager Luis Rojas mentioned after the game that 3B J.D. Davis should also share some blame, as he was so oblivious of the runner and playing so deep that Berti was able to stand a third of the way to home plate without being bothered in any way before taking off. He hit .258 in 39 games that year, with 2 homers, 14 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He appeared in the postseason for the first time, going a combined 3 for 17 as the Marlins played in two rounds.

In 2021, Berti played 85 games for Miami, getting 233 at-bats, and hitting .210 with 4 homers and 19 RBIs for an OPS+ of 71. He was basically a utility player, and not a particularly productive one at that, so it was a huge surprise when in 2022 he ended up leading the National League in stolen bases with 41 in spite of not holding a regular job. He played a career-high 102 games, with 47 games at second base, 37 at third base, 19 in the outfield and 10 at shortstop. He racked up all those stolen bases in just 358 at bats, and with a slash line of .240/.324/.338, he wasn't on base all that often, but as he hit almost exclusively singles, drew a few walks, and was only caught stealing 5 times, he still managed the league-leading feat. In 2023, he a new career high for games for the third straight year, appearing in 133 contests, but still without a regular position. Shortstop and third base were his most frequent destinations, and he set career highs for runs (53), RBIs (33) and homers (7). His base stealing was not as good as the previous season, in spite of more favorable rules having been introduced, as he was successful on 16 of just 22 attempts. He returned to the postseason and went 1 for 5 with a double and a caught stealing as the Marlins were swept in two games by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series.

One day before the start of the 2024 season, on March 27th, he was traded to the New York Yankees in return for C Ben Rortvedt (who was immediately flipped to the Tampa Bay Rays) and prospect John Cruz. The Yankees needed infield depth after placing D.J. LeMahieu on the injured list.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • NL Stolen Bases Leader (2022)

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Bryan Hoch: "Yanks get Berti from Marlins in 3-team trade", mlb.com, March 27, 2024. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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