A few days ago Fortitudo Bologna introduced four new faces for the 2008 season. The arrival of pitcher Cody CILLO and infielder Joseph MAZZUCA was already known for weeks. They also announced the signings of catcher Juan Pablo ANGRISANO and Riccardo PAOLETTI.
The 27-year-old CILLO pitched for De Angelis Godo the last two seasons. He had a 4-4 record and a 3.32 ERA in 2007. He struck out 57 (29 BB) in 92.1 innings pitched. He was born in Brunswick, Maine, played for the University of Alabama and appeared in 45 minor league games for the Florida Marlins organisation in 2003 and 2004. He was on the Italian roster at the Baseball World Cup. He gave up one earned run on five hits and a walk in six innings pitched, striking out seven.
MAZZUCA is 26 years old. He hit .289 for GODO last season with three homeruns, 21 runs scored and 17 RBI. It was his second year in Italy. He was born in Maywood, Illinois and played at Northern Illinois. The Florida Marlins drafted him in the 12th round in 2003. The following two years he appeared in 104 games at the Rookie and Single A level, hitting .222. He saw limited time for the Italian national team at the Baseball World Cup in Taiwan.
ANGRISANO was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina but has an Italian passport. He is 27 years old and played for the Serie A2 (second highest league in Italy) team Codogno Baseball in 2007. He hit a team-best .402 with 41 runs scored and 22 RBI in 35 games. 14 of his 47 hits were for extra bases. As a catcher he threw out 19 of 40 base stealers (47,5 %).
PAOLETTI appeared in six games for Montepaschi Grosseto in 2007. He allowed six hits, six earned runs and six walks in 7.2 innings pitched, striking out five. He is already a well-travelled man. He celebrated his Serie C1 debut for Picena Union at the age of 15. He played two years for the Serie A2 team. He was three years at the MLB Academy. He went to Livorno in 2006, before he changed his jersey colours again last year. He is still pretty young and should better up his statistics in the upcoming season.
Bologna finished in second place during the regular season ’07 with a 27-15 record one game behind Cariparma. They were eliminated by Grosseto in five games in the playoffs. They lost their main sponsor (Italeri) in the off-season and it could be a difficult year for Fortitudo.
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