Eric Santaguida isn’t worried anymore.
Santaguida, a 2022 Crown Point graduate who will return to South Suburban for a second season, sounds like someone who has finally reached the end of a road to recovery that seemed like it had no end.
“Especially after surgery, it’s like, ‘Is my shoulder going to fall off again?’” he said. “But I’m definitely stronger and feeling more confident in my shoulder, which has always been a mental battle.”
That struggle appears to be over for Santaguida, a right-handed pitcher who is eyeing a bright future in baseball after wrapping up a summer season with the Lake County Corn Dogs.
The Corn Dogs (32-10-1) finished the season with a 14-8 win against Upper Deck Baseball Club at Legacy Field in Crown Point on Wednesday night. Santaguida, who started on the mound, entered the game with a 3-1 record and a 3.62 ERA in 32 1/3 innings across nine appearances, including seven starts.
“I really found my groove this summer,” he said. “If you take away two of those games — one of them where I completely fell apart — I feel like I have a 1.00 ERA. It’s been a really good summer.”
Corn Dogs manager Justin Huisman said Santaguida’s success — and failure — revolved around his fastball.
“When he has good fastball command, it sets up everything else,” Huisman said. “He’s going to give up some hits because he throws a decent amount of strikes. But he has a good, hard slider, and when it’s working, he can get out of those jams because he has strikeout stuff.”
Santaguida said he has worked to diversify his repertoire by adding two more pitches.
“I’ve always had my fastball, and the slider’s been my go-to pitch anytime in the count,” he said. “But I’ve developed more of a two-seam fastball and a change-up, which has helped me keep hitters off balance. I have four pitches now, and I have a fastball around 90 (mph) that can break out or back in.”
Corn Dogs infielder Jorgie Vazquez, who played with Santaguida on travel teams before high school, said his old teammate has looked unflappable at times on the mound.
“He’s definitely pitching with a lot more confidence — because confidence goes a long way in this game,” Vazquez said. “His stuff’s a lot better now too.”
Santaguida’s stuff didn’t look so sharp not too long ago as his baseball journey took an unexpected turn. He had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder in June 2022, just after he graduated from Crown Point.
Santaguida left for Western Carolina that fall, clinging to hope that the yearlong recovery timetable he was given would prove incorrect.
“I thought maybe I could finish it in nine months and be back for the season, which was pretty impractical,” he said. “That January, I was topping out at 75. Then I took a step back and realized that this was a major surgery and I needed to chill out. So I took my time.”
Santaguida returned home last summer with no concrete plans for the future. To get back on the mound, he pitched for the Corn Dogs and then transferred to South Suburban. But he still experienced some unsettling moments in the fall.
“I had a lot of uncertainty with how my shoulder felt after outings,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was 100% until the middle of this past season in the spring of 2024. That’s when my shoulder stopped hurting after throwing.”
Santaguida went 1-3 with a 5.94 ERA in 33 1/3 innings for South Suburban. But after a strong summer with the Corn Dogs, he’s ready to prove those spring numbers were a sign that he hadn’t fully recovered from a major shoulder surgery.
“I’m hoping to tear it up this year,” he said. “I know what to expect now. I’m not going in blind anymore. My numbers weren’t great last year, but I’m definitely confident now, knowing this year will pave the road for where I’m going next.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
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