Andrea Pizziconi

Andrea Pizziconi

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.

• Born October 4, 1991 in Anzio, Roma Italy

Biographical Information

Andrea Pizziconi signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009. He is a cousin of Matteo Pizziconi.

Andrea played in the 2008 World Junior Championship. In the 2009 European Junior Championship, he was 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA. He also pitched in the MLB European Academy that summer. In the 2008 season, he played in Serie A2, going 4-1 with a 5.15 ERA and 44 walks in 43 2/3 IP.

He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in September 2009. The scout was Rene Saggiadi. He made his US debut with the 2010 Yakima Bears, allowing one run in two innings on June 21 versus the Everett AquaSox. For the season, he pitched for both the Bears (2-0, 1.59 in 13 G, .206 opponent average) and Missoula Osprey (0-1, 6.75 in 4 G). He was the youngest player for the Italian national team in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, almost two years younger than Luca Panerati. He tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings of one-hit ball to save Sandy Patrone's win over Thailand. He tossed one shutout inning, allowing one hit each time, in Italy's losses to Taiwan and Cuba. Only Cody Cillo pitched better for Italy in the Cup. Italy won the Bronze Medal, their first medal ever in a major international competition.

Arizona then traded Pizziconi to the Kansas City Royals for catcher Lucas May (who spent part of 2010 in the majors). With the Burlington Royals, he struggled at 1-2, 6.81 with 21 walks in 39 2/3 innings.

In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, he was again Italy's youngest performer, turning 20 during the event. His performance was far worse than in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, going from Italy's #2 hurler to their worst (9.00 ERA). He made two appearances in that World Cup. He relieved Justin Cicatello in the 8th inning with two outs against the Dominican Republic with a 7-0 deficit. Pizziconi allowed a Freddy Guzman single then retired Bernie Castro to end the inning. His other outing was against Cuba. With Italy involved in a surprisingly close 2-0 game, he replaced starter Carlos Richetti with one on and no out in the 7th. Pizziconi threw a wild pitch, then allowed a RBI double to José Dariel Abreu. Andrea recovered to get Ariel Pestano on a fly, Erisbel Arruebarruena on a strikeout and Rusney Castillo on a grounder. In the 8th, 19-year-old Pizziconi showed the wildness of youth. He walked Michel Enríquez to open the inning. Frederich Cepeda hit into a force, then Pizziconi hit Alfredo Despaigne. Yulieski Gourriel flew out and Alexei Bell walked to load the bases. Pizziconi then threw two straight wild pitches, scoring both Cepeda and pinch-runner Giorvis Duvergel for a 5-0 Cuban lead. After plunking Abreu, he was replaced by Nick Pugliese. Despite his limited workload, he tied Max Warren and Christoforos Rompinson for second in the event with 3 wild pitches, one behind Carlos Mory.

Let go by the Royals (he was 3-3 with a 4.47 ERA in his two minor league seasons), Pizziconi returned to Italy in 2012. Signing with Parma, he debuted on March 31. In a 20-2 rout by Bologna, Andrea was the worst of a bad lot for Parma's staff, giving up six hits, a walk and eight runs (seven earned) in 2/3 of an inning.