FORMER C’S – WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

It’s not often that a journeyman minor leaguer gets a shot at his big-league dreams after almost a decade in the minors, but former Canadian Jon Berti got that shot. The pride of Troy, MI has traveled a long and winding road since making his pro debut at Nat Bailey Stadium on June 18, 2011. That day, Berti went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, the first of 777 career Minor League hits in 3,007 at-bats. Toronto’s 18th round pick in the 2011 draft, Berti finished his 60-game sprint with the Canadians as a .291 hitter and stole 23 bases to help Vancouver capture their first of three consecutive Northwest League titles. JON BERTI Berti would steadily ascend through the Blue Jays minor league ranks. He split 2012 between Low-A Lansing and High-A Dunedin, spent all of 2013 with the D-Jays then turned in a career year with Double-A New Hampshire in 2014 when he hit .270, cracked seven homers, stole 40 bases and collected 202 total bases. He shuttled between Double-A and Triple-A from 2015 to 2018, including a stint with former C’s manager John Schneider in New Hampshire to help spur the Fisher Cats to an Eastern League title – he hit .314 in 72 regular season games then led New Hampshire to a 6-0 postseason record. He got a longoverdue call-up after the ‘Cats raised the trophy and made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays on September 26, 2018. He logged his first big league hit in that game and finished the season with four hits in 15 at-bats. The former Bowling Green State star elected free agency after the 2018 season and signed with the Miami Marlins on December 3, 2018. He played 22 games with the Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes before he joined the Marlins on April 20 and has been in the Major Leagues ever since. Berti is off to a terrific start to 2022. He’s batting .300 (12-for-40) in 17 games this year, has homered twice, gets on base over 40% of the time and has walked almost as much as he has K’d. “Birdman” has slashed .250/.347/.373/.720 in his big-league career with 32 doubles, four triples and 14 homers.