Catalanotto played professional baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1997–1999), the Texas Rangers (2000–2002, 2007–2008), the Toronto Blue Jays (2003–2006), the Milwaukee Brewers (2009) and the New York Mets (2010).

He then went on to be the head baseball coach of the NYIT Bears (2019–2020) and Hofstra Pride (2022–present), leading the latter program to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2022.

Detroit general manager Randy Smith chose not to protect Catalanotto in the 1996 Rule 5 draft, and he was selected by the Oakland Athletics, spending spring training with them.

Over his three-year span in Detroit, he was the most often used pinch hitter for the Tigers, leading the American League (AL) in pinch-hit at bats in the 1998 season.

Catalanotto made a splash to start to his Rangers career, collecting ten hits and three walks in thirteen consecutive plate appearances from April 21 to May 18, 2000.

[10] Catalanotto was hired on June 7, 2018, as the head coach of the New York Institute of Technology college baseball team.

[13] In his first season as head coach, he led the Pride to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance after winning the CAA Baseball championship, the first in program history.

Conference tournament champion Catalanotto is an honorary chairman for the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation [1] and participates in Little League Baseball programs.

[14] Catalanotto was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island, New York, in the Baseball Category with the Class of 2010.