Kevin Santiago
Assistant Hitting Coach & 1st Base CoachKevin Santiago returns to the ThunderBolts in 2024 as Asstant Hitting Coach & 1st Base Coach. The 2024 season will be Santiago’s fourth with the ThunderBolts and ninth coaching at a professional level.
Santiago’s first professional coaching position was with the Joliet Jackhammers (Northern League) as an assistant from 2002-04 before leaving baseball. He returned to the sport in 2018 as an assistant for the Joliet Slammers (Frontier League) helping the club win the league title. Santiago served as Hitting Coach of the ThunderBolts in 2019 and 2021-22. After the 2019 season in Crestwood, Santiago spent the COVID affected 2020 in Joliet with the Tully Monsters squad as part of the City of Champions Cup.
Santiago played his high school ball in nearby Tinley Park at Andrew High School, where he earned All-Conference, All-Area and All-State honors. After high school he played at South Suburban College (NJCAA) in South Holland. He represented the Bulldogs well finishing as the career home run leader for the team. He also was named to the All-Regional team twice and earned All-American honors.