After strengthen the roster with Spanish national team pitchers Jorge Balboa and Fernando Gutierrez, and the signing of Ivanon Coffie, the Italian Baseball League club TELEMARKET RIMINI brings in another infielder. Phil LoCascio is coming from the Serie A2 club WARRIORS PATERNO (second division in Italy).
The 30-year-old Italian-American played for the Kent State University from 2000 till 2002, before arriving in Italy for the 2003 season. Since then he played for PATERNO. He was released after the 2008 season and makes the jump onto the highest level in Italy. This year he batted .400 (OBP .473/SLG .471) with two triples, six doubles, 36 runs scored and 27 RBIs in 34 games. He ranked fourth in the league in batting average, second in hits (56), fifth in on-base-percentage and third in runs scored.
Together with Jack Santora and Coffie he likely will form the infield of the PIRATES, playing second base or shortstop. However RIMINI is still in the market for foreign players, one of them could take over at short. Due to his run scoring capabilities LoCascio is also a candidate to bat leadoff next year.