Juan Lantigua:
The first overall selection in the famed 2023 draft was Juan Lantigua, taken by Tucson. The Diamondbacks had spent most of the 2010's struggling to get out of last place, and things hadn't changed much as the '20s began. To get the first overall pick in 2023, Tucson had paced baseball with 108 losses the year before. Thus, it wasn't hard for Lantigua to find a regular spot in the Tucson lineup in his first professional season. The 21 year old Lantigua held his own at the big league level, showing a little bit of pop and respectable plate discipline. Even so, Tucson once again finished with the worst record in baseball, losing 104 games.
It would get worse before it got better for Tucson. Even as Lantigua enjoyed a .300 season with 20 HR, 91 RBI, and 87 walks, the Diamondbacks set a record for futility that wouldn't be matched until the league expanded 14 years later, losing an embarassing 114 games in 2024. Although Tucson rebounded to win 75 games in 2025, the season represented a setback for Lantigua. His numbers dropped off from the previous season and then, in late July, he suffered a broken foot that knocked him out for the remainder of the season.
2026 was a breakthrough year for both Lantigua and the Tucson Diamondbacks. Lantigua broke out with a .323/.410/.521/.931 season, belting 27 homeruns and driving in 94 runs. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks won 87 games and made the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Although they were easily beaten in the ALCS by Nashville in 5 games, Tucson was determined not to be a one year wonder. Lantigua OPS'ed .904 and drove in 100 runs for the first time in his career in 2027 as the Diamondbacks survived a tight division race with Memphis, beating out the Grizzlies by two games in the Central Division. Once again, however, the Diamondbacks fell in the ALCS, this time losing to Knoxville in 6 games. In 2028, Lantigua OPS'ed .921 and drove in 100 runs for the second straight year. Additionally, he made the first All Star team of his career. The Diamondbacks won their third straight division title, despite finishing barely over .500, with only 83 wins. But the end result was the same. Also for the third straight year, Tucson fell in the ALCS. They took Knoxville to 7 games this time.
Lantigua left Tucson after the 2028 season and headed to the National League to play for Portland. After a run of dominance in the early '20s(6 straight division titles and a World Series victory in 2024), the Trailblazers had sunk into mediocrity as the decade came to a close. After one mediocre season in 2029, Portland imploded, losing 109 and 106 games in the following years. Lantigua didn't stick around any longer, as the worst season of his career in 2030 caused the fans in Portland to turn on him. He jumped ship for Rochester, perennial bridesmaid in the Northeast. The Rhinos won 93 games, second most in franchise history at the time, with Lantigua on board. But it wasn't good enough for first place in what would prove to be one of the strangest seasons in league history(Note: I plan to write a little more on this season in the near future. Ideally, to coincide with the current season's postseason, as it would be the 50th anniversary of the events that transpired).
Little changed over the next several seasons. Rochester posted winning records every year until 2036, but failed to make the postseason in any of them. Lantigua made three All Star teams in his Rochester tenure, and won a batting title in 2035. In 2038, Lantigua was dealt to the expansion Miami Dolphins, who were in the process of shattering Tucson's previous record for futility(as it was, 3 of the 4 expansion teams broke Tucson's record of 114 losses, and Miami was the worst of the worst, with 131 losses). In 2039, he signed with the second year San Jose Sharks, but didn't last the season with them, bringing his career to a close.
Lantigua is perhaps not the greatest of Hall of Famers. More likely, he belongs in the Hall of Very Good. At the time of his retirement, he ranked 21st all time in hits and 22nd in runs scored.
Lantigua's stats:
Code:
Career Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams
2023 139 490 126 32 4 15 58 75 50 127 6 8 .257 .326 .431 .757 TUC
2024 156 567 170 29 4 20 91 89 87 109 15 7 .300 .393 .471 .864 TUC
2025 100 366 97 18 4 13 46 63 51 52 5 6 .265 .355 .443 .798 TUC
2026 155 585 189 25 5 27 94 129 86 84 10 4 .323 .410 .521 .931 TUC
2027 153 588 188 22 3 28 109 119 72 76 12 6 .320 .394 .510 .904 TUC
2028 154 612 195 28 8 29 110 125 70 83 7 6 .319 .389 .533 .921 TUC,AL
2029 155 582 196 29 3 29 98 104 71 104 14 7 .337 .409 .546 .955 POR
2030 155 559 152 24 4 15 69 71 53 90 7 7 .272 .335 .410 .745 POR
2031 157 569 175 28 5 22 92 100 71 97 20 10 .308 .384 .490 .875 POR
2032 142 561 181 44 6 25 76 117 66 106 26 12 .323 .394 .556 .950 ROC,NL
2033 143 589 196 24 6 23 92 121 58 100 29 10 .333 .393 .511 .904 ROC,NL
2034 153 619 218 40 11 25 97 126 72 97 22 10 .352 .420 .574 .993 ROC
2035 158 597 212 39 8 25 76 131 72 89 27 17 .355 .425 .573 .997 ROC,NL
2036 148 580 161 26 3 23 78 94 62 107 12 8 .278 .347 .452 .799 ROC
2037 111 435 129 17 6 19 58 74 35 101 1 0 .297 .349 .494 .843 ROC
2038 143 532 149 19 3 15 76 81 55 155 0 0 .280 .348 .412 .759 ROC Mia
2039 67 150 30 3 1 3 10 15 13 33 0 0 .200 .264 .293 .557 SJ
Total 2389 8981 2764 447 84 356 1330 1634 1044 1610 213 118 .308 .380 .495 .875
Career Postseason Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2026 5 20 7 4 0 0 2 2 1 4 0 0 .350 .381 .550 .931
2027 6 26 10 2 0 0 2 4 2 3 0 0 .385 .429 .462 .890
2028 7 28 9 2 0 0 0 8 3 6 1 0 .321 .387 .393 .780
Total 18 74 26 8 0 0 4 14 6 13 1 0 .351 .400 .459 .859
Player History
Drafted in 1st round, 1st overall pick, by Tucson in 2023...
Had first career hit on 4/1/2023, off Pedro Cruz (KC)...
Hit first career homerun on 4/26/2023, off Francis Parada (KC)...
Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against Memphis on 7/20/2023...
Injured on 7/30/2025 with a Broken Foot, out for full season...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/30/2027, hitting .389 with 5 HR, 12 RBI...
Was selected to the 2028 Allstar game...
Signed as a free agent by Portland on 2/8/2029 to a 3-year deal worth $5,836,600 per year...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against San Diego on 5/23/2030...
Signed as a free agent by Rochester on 2/3/2032 to a 4-year deal worth $4,981,800 per year...
Had 20-game hitting streak snapped on 5/13/2032...
Injured on 5/29/2032 with a Strained Abdominal Muscle, out for 1-2 weeks...
Was selected to the 2032 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Hartford on 4/5/2033...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2033, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 8 RBI...
Was selected to the 2033 Allstar game...
Injured on 8/27/2033 with a Sprained Wrist, out for one week...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2034, hitting .462 with 2 HR, 6 RBI...
Had 24-game hitting streak snapped on 5/6/2034...
Had 2000th career hit on 7/25/2034, off Christopher Borelli (LA)...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/11/2034, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 7 RBI...
Hit for the cycle against Harrisburg on 4/9/2035...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/12/2035, hitting .550 with 3 HR, 6 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2035, hitting .420 with 8 HR, 19 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Hartford on 6/18/2035...
Was selected to the 2035 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2035, hitting .556 with 1 HR, 4 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2035, hitting .471 with 3 HR, 12 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/21/2036, hitting .440 with 2 HR, 3 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Harrisburg on 8/23/2036...
Had 5 hits with 0 RBI against Portland on 8/25/2036...
Injured on 9/24/2036 with a Strained Abdominal Muscle, out for one week...
Injured on 5/15/2037 with a Fractured Hip, out for 8 weeks...
Traded from Rochester to Miami on 6/2/2038 (Going to ROC: RF J. Pascarella, P A. Adkins. Going to Mia: P D. Garza, LF J. Lantigua, P C. Haruki)...
Injured on 7/31/2038 with a Scratched Cornea Eye, out for 1-2 weeks...
Signed as a free agent by San Jose on 2/1/2039 to a 4-year deal worth $643,100 per year...
Released by San Jose on 7/7/2039, refused assignment to minors...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2040.
Batting Leader Boards Appearances
AVG
2026 - .323 - 8th
2028 - .319 - 9th
2029 - .337 - 8th
2032 - .323 - 9th
2034 - .352 - 2nd
2035 - .355 - 1st
OBP
2024 - .393 - 10th
2026 - .410 - 5th
2027 - .394 - 10th
2028 - .389 - 8th
2029 - .409 - 8th
2034 - .420 - 7th
2035 - .425 - 3rd
SLG
2029 - .546 - 9th
2032 - .556 - 9th
2034 - .574 - 5th
2035 - .573 - 1st
OPS
2026 - .931 - 10th
2028 - .921 - 8th
2029 - .955 - 9th
2032 - .950 - 10th
2034 - .993 - 4th
2035 - .997 - 1st
Hits
2026 - 189 - 8th
2027 - 188 - 9th
2028 - 195 - 7th
2029 - 196 - 7th
2032 - 181 - 9th
2033 - 196 - 7th
2034 - 218 - 1st
2035 - 212 - 1st
Doubles
2032 - 44 - 4th
2034 - 40 - 7th
2035 - 39 - 9th
Triples
2028 - 8 - 10th
2033 - 6 - 8th
2034 - 11 - 1st
2035 - 8 - 2nd
2037 - 6 - 10th
Runs
2026 - 129 - 3rd
2027 - 119 - 7th
2028 - 125 - 2nd
2032 - 117 - 8th
2033 - 121 - 10th
2034 - 126 - 3rd
2035 - 131 - 1st
BB
2024 - 87 - 5th
2026 - 86 - 10th
SB
2031 - 20 - 7th
2032 - 26 - 4th
2033 - 29 - 4th
2034 - 22 - 8th
2035 - 27 - 5th