Mister Baseball

After a great start into the minor league season 2008 with the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League (Single A), Alessandro Maestri (stats) was promoted to the Tennessee Smokies and will join the Double A club this Thursday. It is the first time that an Italian player, who learned his first steps of baseball in his home country reaches Double A. All other Italians before him playing in Double A and higher were either born in the United States or got to know baseball overseas.

And it is a well deserved promotion. Maestri, making the transition from reliever to starting pitcher this year, appeared in 15 games for Daytona, posting a 5-3 record with an ERA of 3.69. He struck out 66 in 78 innings pitched (27 walks). It is already his third season in the minor leagues. He continually moved through the farm system of the Chicago Cubs so far with a combined ERA of 3.12 in 85 games (18 starts). According to this nice report in today’s edition of the Dayton News Journal, Maestri is currently working to add a third pitch, a changeup, to his repertoire.  He already features a good fastball in addition to his praised slider (ranked as best in the Cubs system by Baseball America).

We will eagerly follow his development and if he can make it to the big leagues in the future. So long, we’ll continue to report about his progress occasionally.

Another more established Italian minor leaguer is Alex Liddi. The 19-year-old from San Remo is playing for the Seattle Mariners affiliate Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the Midwest league (Single A). The infielder is currently batting .242 (OBP .298/SLG .341) with two homeruns, 32 runs scored and 25 RBI in 63 games. On June 14 he had his best game of the season, when he went five-for-five with two doubles and three runs scored. He signed with the Mariners organization in 2005 and is in his third season in the United States.

Speaking of Italian Minor Leaguers. Left-handed pitcher Matteo Pizziconi made his season debut for the GCL Reds of the Gulf Coast League this past week. On Tuesday June 24, the 18-year-old entered the game against the GCL Orioles (16-4) in the seventh inning and threw a scoreless inning of relief. He loaded the bases with no outs on a single and two walks, but escaped the tough situation unharmed, as he struck out the next batter and induced fly outs to right and left field to end the lopsided victory for the Reds.

Luca Panerati, who also signed with the Cincinnati Reds organization and also is supposed to pitch for the GCL Reds is still in Italy, finishing school and will probably arrive in Florida in July.

In the following days, weeks and months Mister-Baseball.com will cover all minor league players from Europe. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the German prospects in Florida and Arizona. Visit the site frequently and check for updates.