After the French Elite League and German Baseball-Bundesliga we’ll now continue with our ‘2008 in Review’ series with the Italian Baseball League.
Rangers Redipuglia
The RANGERS won the Serie A2 in 2007 and received the promotion into the Italian Baseball League last winter. However after 42 games at the highest level in Italy, REDIPUGLIA is going back into the second division. They managed just two wins against the seventh-ranked GODO all year long and finished with a 2-40 record in eighth place. The team was overmatched in most of the games, getting out-scored 117-364.
What the stats say
The offense batted just .222 (OBP .293/SLG .307) and the pitching staff had a combined ERA of 7.56, ranking eighth in the league in most of the categories. The RANGERS allowed 100 runs more than the team in front of them. They struck out the fewest batters (180 in 349 IP) in the IBL, but walked the most (255) and also made 72 errors, which led to 71 unearned runs.
Only three players would have been starters with other clubs in the league. Infielder Johnny Carvajal led the club with a .329 batting average (.392/.582) with nine homeruns, 27 runs scored and 22 RBIs. His excellent performance in 2008 helped him to find a new team for next year, when he signed with CARIPARMA in November. Catcher Lizahio Baez (.296/.382/.378) and infielder Massimiliano Sartori (.257/.303/.403) had solid season at the plate.
No pitcher, who stood on the mound for at least ten innings, had a better ERA than 6.00. George Delgado led the team with an ERA of 6.05, but had a 0-8 record in eleven games (nine starts). He struck out 45 in 58 innings, while walking 35. Matteo Bertoldi (ERA 6.94, 1-6, 46.2 IP, 28 SO, 36 BB) and Andrea Cossar (ERA 8.38, 1-11, 67.2 IP, 36 SO, 35 BB) were the only hurlers on the staff picking up wins.
REDIPUGLIA never had a real chance to stay in the league. Now they have to regroup in the Serie A2 and hope for another shot in 2010.