CBC grad Nazzan Zanetello, Red Sox second-round draft pick, "excited to get to work"

The biggest week of Nazzan Zanetello’s life took him from his hometown of St. Louis to Seattle for the Major League Baseball Draft and All-Star festivities, then back to St. Louis for one night before traveling to Boston the next day.

The recent Christian Brothers College High School graduate’s coast-to-coast adventure – at one point he was in three different cities in three days – is just part of his new life as he begins to live out his dream as a professional baseball player.

“It has definitely been crazy, pretty busy,” Zanetello said in a phone interview late last week from Boston. “But I feel like it's just what I'm gonna do for, like, the rest of my life now. So I gotta sort of get used to it and adapt to the changes.”

Invited to the Major League Baseball Draft and All-Star events in Seattle as one of the top draft-eligible prospects, the five-tool shortstop soaked in as much as he could while being surrounded by All-Stars and Hall of Famers he grew up watching.

When the Red Sox selected the University of Arkansas signee with their second-round selection, No. 50 overall, on Sunday night, Zanetello unofficially joined their ranks as one of them.

Within the next few days, Zanetello is expected to sign a deal for an above-slot signing bonus – Major League Baseball’s recommended value for the No. 50 pick is $1.7 million – and will begin his professional career with the Red Sox organization.

“There were 49 picks before me, so there were definitely a lot of different places I could have ended up,” Zanetello said. “The Mariners had four picks before 50, and getting picked to Seattle in Seattle definitely would have been very electric. I saw the way they interacted with all their fans and all the other fan bases that had their fans there. But it's a great opportunity to play with the Red Sox, where they have one of the best player development systems in all of baseball down in Fort Myers and I’m just excited to get to work.”

THE MOMENT

The moment Zanetello heard his name called was one he and his family will never forget.

Sitting in a green room, surrounded by his mother, father and little sister, as well as the other prospects and their families and a slew of television cameras, Zanetello watched the Draft unfold without knowing when he’d hear his name called.

Zanetello knew the Red Sox were interested and the Red Sox knew how much money he was looking for in order to forgo his college eligibility and sign with them. But he didn’t know how it would all unfold until it finally happened.

“It was definitely a very cool feeling,” he said. “Like even though it was quote-unquote, in place, it was still very surprising and still felt like I didn't know it was coming, you know, because being able to sit in that room, talk to the family, interact with the other families, and just being in that environment, it really just made it a lot more emotional.”

When Boston selected Zanetello with its second-round pick, he celebrated with his family for a moment before donning a Red Sox jersey and walking onto the Draft stage to be interviewed by MLB Network’s Xavier Scruggs.

"Man, it was just a dream come true because I remember my first Little League team was the St. Louis Red Sox," Zanetello told Scruggs.

The MLB Network broadcast then showed Zanetello’s mother, father and sister, back in the green room, wiping away tears as they watched him on a nearby television.

Zanetello’s father, Zach, described the mixed emotions he was feeling in that moment.

“You watch your child grow and mature and turn it into what they are and, at that moment, even though you knew it was coming and you're there, you just get like flashes of like the past coming up,” Zach Zanetello said, “and you see like highlights in your head of things that have happened and how much work he has put in and just knowing that it's going to change his life for the absolute better, you know what I mean, and you try to hold it back, but honestly it's just it's just that whole whirlwind of emotions that come in one time.”

“You're happy,” he continued, “I mean, honestly, in the back of your head, you're kind of sad, because you know that he's about to leave and be gone. You're excited. It's everything. And it all kind of just hits you.”

Zach Zanetello didn’t want to cry on national television, but admitted he was hit with all of the emotions in that moment.

He has watched the video. You can see at the one point where he kind of exhaled, he explained, and realized the gravity of his son’s life-changing moment that had just unfolded.

“I told myself I wasn't gonna cry, like, I'm not gonna cry on TV, I'm not gonna do that, I'm gonna be happy,” he said, “and it just catches up with you real quick, and you let a breath out. And then it kind of just comes and you're like, oh crap. I mean, I am crying, that's not what I wanted to do but oh well. And then I looked over at my daughter, and she was crying, and she got me going again. I was like, Oh my goodness.”

“HE’S GONNA BE GREAT”

Zanetello’s high school coach, Mason Horne, watched the Draft broadcasts on MLB Network and ESPN on Sunday night, flipping back and forth between them before settling on MLB Network’s.

The Cadets coach currently has two of his former players playing in the big leagues – Chicago White Sox third baseman Jake Burger and Detroit Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling were teammates at CBC – and was hoping for good news for three former players who were eligible for the Draft in Zanetello, LSU pitcher Christian Little and TCU catcher Kurtis Byrne.

Horne was watching the first night of the Draft eagerly anticipating hearing his shortstop’s name being called.

“You're just so happy for him and you're happy for his family because you know what type of kid he is, you know what type of family they are, you know how hard he's worked,” Horne said. “I don't know how to describe it, other than being just as proud as you would be about your own child doing something amazing. You just feel euphoric for him and his family, and for the school and for the program and everybody else.”

Zanetello’s freshman season at CBC was canceled due to COVID-19 shutting down spring sports in Missouri, but the standout shortstop shined in his final three seasons, including helping the Cadets reach the final four as a sophomore.

Over three high school seasons he batted .391 (117 hits in 299 at-bats) with 30 doubles, nine triples, 15 home runs, 83 runs batted in, 104 runs scored and 50 stolen bases.

As a senior, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound shortstop batted .421 with nine doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 33 RBIs, 47 runs scored, a .557 on-base percentage and 21 stolen bases.

Horne spoke with a reporter early last week, before it was known whether Zanetello would sign with the Red Sox or head to the University of Arkansas, but said whatever Zanetello decided to do, whatever path he chose, he is going to be great.

“He could be a CEO of a company or he could be, you know, own his own business or just go work,” Horne said. “I mean, he's gonna be great at whatever he decides to do, because he's been raised properly. He's humble. He works hard. He's tough as nails. You know, his charisma and how he comes across almost is this kind of overconfident, not arrogant, but just very confident person. And he makes everything look so easy.

“But he's just tough as nails and he’s worked so hard and he just doesn't show when he does fail at something, he handles it with so much maturity that you just know that whatever he does in life, he's gonna get through it because the way he can bounce back from things.”

ALL-STAR EXPERIENCE

Zanetello won’t soon forget his few days in Seattle.

The Draft prospects and their families were treated to the experience of a lifetime as part of the Draft and All-Star events.

In addition to the three-day, 20-round Draft, which started on Sunday with the first two rounds on television, the invited prospects and their families got to watch the Home Run Derby on Monday night and the All-Star Game on Tuesday night.

“There was just so much going on, just being in the hotel, interacting with all the other draftees, getting to meet and talk to all the college guys there,” Zanetello said. “You walked down for breakfast and you're down there with all the All-Stars. Like I was talking to Marcus Semien for a while, got to meet him, turned around and saw Salvador Perez and Clayton Kershaw. And then I got my food and sat down at my table and I saw Nolan Arenado walk in with his baby.”

Zanetello had several interactions in Seattle that reinforced his soon-to-be new life as a professional baseball player.

He got to meet Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts and many more, including spending a moment with David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter on the TV set before the All-Star Game.

“Meeting those three guys at the same time definitely was huge,” Zanetello said, “Like … everybody knows the Red Sox from David Ortiz pretty much. And Derek Jeter, I watched ‘The Captain’ documentary with my mom. And A-Rod is hands down one of the greatest athletes that ever played on a baseball field. So meeting all those guys and chopping it up with them on set was definitely really cool.”

The Red Sox tweeted out a video of Zanetello meeting Red Sox All-Star closer Kenley Jansen, an interaction the recent high school graduate described as “surreal.”

“It was definitely cool because he recognized that I had on a Red Sox jersey and he came up to me, you know, so that definitely meant a lot to me that he acknowledged me as an 18 year old,” Zanetello said. “He's an All-Star, you know, he could have definitely just put his head down and walked past me. Even Ken Griffey Jr. Whenever we were in the green room, I walked in and he was like, ‘Hey, congratulations,’ and kind of just sparked a conversation. So that definitely meant a lot to me that these All-Stars and Hall of Famers are acknowledging me.”

JOURNEY TO PRO BASEBALL

Zach Zanetello couldn’t help but reminisce about everything that has led to this point in his son’s young life – all of the moments and steps and sacrifices that added up to the opportunity of a lifetime.

He recalled Nazzan as a little kid just starting out in T-ball, getting to coach him in his younger years before reaching the point where he had to trust others to coach his son.

“You remember times that he failed and he was overlooked and rejected and then you remember the times that he started to get credibility and national attention and you kind of just see all those things flash through your head,” Zach Zanetello said. “You remember the times that you've worked overnights and then stayed up all day and then went back to work again because he had games or tournaments or travel. You see his mom working jobs, two or three jobs, in your head. You see his little sister sacrificing to come out and spend hot days out in the summer at the field all day long and travel around the country with us. You see all the traveling you've done and all the places you've been and not being able to enjoy them like normal people on vacations do because you're there for other reasons.”

Knowing those sacrifices that the family made, over and over and over again, and thinking about all of the moments along the way were going through Zach’s head when he got to see his son get drafted by the Red Sox.

“Literally all those things just go through your head that fast and and then you see that this is the payoff and and that's where I think the joy overwhelms you where you can't really, as much as I tried at least, you can't hold back that feeling of just the happiness for your son,” Zach said. “Everything else aside, your feelings about anything, what you have going on, it all just gets set to the side for like that moment of happiness that this just happened for him. It's pretty awesome.”

“COULDN’T ASK FOR MORE”

While Zanetello draws rave reviews for his five-tool potential and an “off-the-charts” athleticism, as noted by his high school coach, Horne, he’s also unique in his makeup and maturity.

In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch prior to the Draft, Horne described his standout shortstop as a remarkable human being and the kind of kid you would want to marry your daughter.

Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson also raved about Zanetello as a person when he spoke with reporters after the first two rounds of the Draft.

“I think he described himself as a five-tool player and a five-tool person,” Pearson told reporters. “I think we would all agree with that. He is a great human and hard worker. Not only are we excited to bring the talent in, but we’re excited to bring the person in as well.”

Those are the kind of comments that really get to Zanetello's father.

“I am the proudest and it makes me the happiest and gives me the most joy when I see people comment on his character and him being such a great kid and a great person,” Zach Zanetello said. “Those comments are the ones that get me tearing up when I'm behind the scenes. Listening to people say that, to me, never gets old. Because to me that's deeper than an athletic ability. That's a character trait that will carry him through life way farther than baseball will.

“If he was to lose anything that he had baseball-wise tomorrow I know that he would still be a successful human being because of the character that he maintains and the type of person that he is. And that right there … makes me one of the proudest parents that there could possibly be. Me and his mother are absolutely thrilled with the way that he carries himself and I couldn't ask for more from him as a person honestly.”