Solid As A Roc: Riggio ignited crowds in Hudson Valley

Dirtbag. If you were to have 2024 Renegades infielder Roc Riggio describe himself in a word, that would be his choice. Outside of baseball, that might not sound like a compliment, but in baseball it is the ultimate compliment for a player like Riggio. It means you play hard, are gritty, scrappy, and have a never-say-die attitude.

In a sport captivated by the 6-foot-7 Aaron Judge, the 5-foot-9 Riggio with his attitude of "heart over height" made himself a fan favorite at Heritage Financial Park with his dirtbag approach to the game.

Beyond his attitude and swagger -- or perhaps because of it -- there was probably no player who more emphatically made his mark on the special season that the Gades had in 2024 than Riggio. In his first full professional season after being drafted by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma State University, Riggio was a constant in the lineup and always seemed to be in the middle of big things.

It is easy to remember how he authored two of the biggest plays of the season -- one in April, a double play in which he caught a ball while flipping over centerfielder Nelson Medina and then alertly threw to second base to double off a runner against the Aberdeen IronBirds, and another in July when he hit a walk-off home run to complete a no-hitter thrown the Renegades against the Rome Emperors. But not lost in those highlight plays was a season which saw Riggio mature as a player and make strides that point toward a bright future.

Riggio first drew major attention during his freshman year at Oklahoma State, when during an NCAA Tournament Regional game in 2022 against Arkansas he rounded third after hitting a home run and briefly did a trot imitating Capt. Jack Sparrow's distinctive running form in the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. It was a flashy move that went viral on social media, and made Riggio a polarizing figure in college baseball.

While we never saw anything quite like that on the fields of the South Atlantic League, Riggio's energy, passion, and sheer joy playing the game was on display throughout the spring and summer.

"Energy is what people want to see. At the end of the day [baseball] is entertainment for the fans," said Riggio. "People want to see authenticity. I don't try to be anything I'm not. I'm the same person on the field that I am at home."

Roc Riggio was feeling himself on his lap around the bases 😅 pic.twitter.com/aRtyUYFOu6

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 5, 2022

Growing up in Southern California, Riggio was smitten with baseball from a young age, often finishing up his homework and then hitting for hours in a batting cage in his backyard that his father had constructed. His grandmother had season tickets at Dodger Stadium, and Roc grew up a fan of the Dodgers.

He remembers seeing Manny Ramirez play for Los Angeles near the end of career, and grew up a big fan of watching fellow lefties Andre Ethier and James Loney hit at Dodger Stadium. Although he wasn't a pitcher, he was also a fan of future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who he called "a hard guy not to like."

As his talent became evident, Riggio began to play for USA Baseball's youth national team programs beginning when he was 14. He was drafted out of Thousand Oaks High School in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, but decided not to sign and went to Oklahoma State to play for Josh Holiday.

"Oklahoma State was one of the best times I ever had in my life," Riggio said. "I met a bunch of amazing people, and just going through the process [of selecting a college] I just wanted to find somewhere that felt like home. Stillwater was like its own little oasis in the middle of nowhere and had just a bunch of people in a great college sports town, great atmosphere, who you know, bleed orange. It was awesome."

At Oklahoma State, Riggio teamed with future Renegades teammates Garrett Martin, Hueston Morrill, and Brian Hendry, and was close friends with Marcus Brown, who played against the Renegades with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2023.

Playing in the Big 12 conference with and against some of the best collegiate baseball talent helped Riggio elevate his game and his sophomore season established him as one of the top players in that league. He hit .335/.461/.679 and led the Cowboys with 18 home runs in a massive campaign, which culminated in Oklahoma State hosting an NCAA Regional.

As a draft-eligible sophomore, there were questions about whether Riggio would leave Oklahoma State if he got drafted or if he would stay in school for his junior and senior seasons. Ultimately, the Yankees took a chance and drafted him in the fourth round of the draft and were able to sign him to a contract. He played 22 games between the FCL Yankees and Tampa Tarpons in 2023 before embarking on his first full pro season with Hudson Valley in 2024.

He hit leadoff for the Renegades on Opening Night in Bowling Green, a spot that he occupied in the lineup for most of the season. While he dealt with a variety of nagging injuries early in the season, he stayed on the field and gave his typical 110% effort to help the team win. There is maybe no better example of that than a play he made against Aberdeen on April 18.

Creed Willems hit a high pop up to shallow centerfield off left-hander Joel Valdez. Riggio, playing shortstop that night, raced out after the ball as centerfielder Nelson Medina came in.

"My first instinct -- my only instinct, really -- was to go catch the ball," Riggio said to MLB.com after the catch. "I was going back -- waiting for someone to call me off, someone to say they got it. Infielders are taught to go up for the ball and outfielders are taught to go down. So in my head, I was just hoping [Medina] was going to go down, and if he did, I knew I was going to make the play."

Not only did he make the play, but he alertly threw the ball from his back to second base where Josh Moylan came up to catch the ball and tag the base before Hudson Haskin could make it back to cap off a jaw-dropping play.

Both Riggio and Medina missed some time after that play, shaken up by one of the craziest plays of the year.

For most players that would be the highlight of the season, but Roc proved time and time again throughout 2024 that he was not most players. His signature moment of the season came in the first game after the All-Star Break on July 19, as the Renegades hosted the Rome Emperors.

Kyle Carr, Trent Sellers and Hueston Morrill combined to throw nine no-hit innings to start the game, but the Gades offense couldn't score and the game was tied 0-0 going into the bottom of the ninth.

Riggio led off the inning against Rome's Shay Shanaman and bunted the first pitch of the at-bat foul. After that he noticed the third baseman move in and decided to swing away at the next pitch, which he drove deep into the night to right field for a walk-off home run.

"That one felt special," said Riggio to MLB.com after the walk-off. "I looked at the dugout, and I was like, 'Dang, it feels good,' because I did it for them. … It would've been the same reaction if anyone hit it."

He took his helmet off before reaching second base, an exuberant celebration showing that while he has matured, he still plays with the same fun, energy, and passion that has been the hallmarks of his game for years.

Like every player Riggio experienced the slumps and streaks that come with a 132-game season on both offense and defense. But positively, he finished strong when the team needed him most -- over the final 20 games of the season, he hit .274/.407/.534 with 14 RBIs and eight stolen bases. His performance down the stretch was a big reason why the Renegades were able to close out a second half division title and make the playoffs.

He hit at that same level in the playoffs, including connecting for a leadoff home run in Game 1 of the SAL Championship Series in Bowling Green, although the team fell short.

Though while Riggio's strong offensive finish was notable, perhaps his biggest improvement throughout the season was on the defensive end. In his first 26 games of the year, he committed 14 errors and had a .887 fielding percentage.

He didn't allow that to get him down, though, as over his final 78 games of the season he made only five miscues and posted a .982 fielding percentage and at one point had a 29-game errorless streak, the second-longest streak by a Renegades infielder in 2024. That improvement is a testament to the work he put in with Renegades manager Nick Ortiz, who also instructed infield defense, and his work ethic.

It is too early to tell if Riggio will begin 2025 back with the Renegades or if he will start the new season in Double-A with the Somerset Patriots, but no matter where he is it is undeniable that he will bring the same dirtbag style of play with him to propel himself to becoming a major league ballplayer.

"No matter what I do, my story is already written. Whatever I'm supposed to do is meant to happen. Whatever I do that day is meant to happen," Riggio, a man of deep faith, says. "The game is hard and it's frustrating and you want to play good. ... My whole life has been playing for fun and also being a Major League Baseball player was not even a second thought. I know it is going to happen. I just gotta have fun and enjoy it."