Dean Rovinelli

Dean Rovinelli

• Bats Left, Throws Left

• Born April 21, 1975

First baseman Dean Rovinelli has spent over a decade at Italy's highest level.

Rovinelli debuted in Italy in 1999 with Auriga Caserta, hitting .197/.319/.426 with 25 strikeouts in 61 AB, a rough debut. In 2000, he batted .279/.353/.536 with 10 homers and 45 RBI in 49 games. Moving to Rimini in 2001, Rovinelli improved further, with a batting line of .333/.399/.503. He made his Italian national team debut in the 2001 Baseball World Cup, going 1 for 18 with a walk and forming a pathetic right-side infield offense with Davide Dallospedale (1 for 21).

In 2003, Dean hit .326/.433/.521 for T&A San Marino. During the 2003 Baseball World Cup, Rovinelli hit .200/.294/.267 as Italy's first sacker. In 2004, he produced at a .286/.382/.422 rate for San Marino despite 49 strikeouts in 192 AB.

Rovinelli hit .238/.319/.327 in 2005, an off-year at age 30. He bounced back in '06, with a .300/.385/.382 batting line. He faded again with San Marino in 2007, hitting .221/.325/.327. He was named the Outstanding Defensive Player of the 2007 European Cup. He also won a Gold Glove at first base during the 2007 Serie A1 campaign.

In 2008, Dean batted .248/.354/.406 for San Marino. But Rovinelli exploded in the playoffs hitting 6 home runs (4 in the finals) and driving in 12 helping lead San Marino to their first ever championship.In the 2008 European Cup in Grosseto, he hit .200/.294/.200. During the 2008 European Cup Final Four, Rovinelli was 4 for 7 with a run and a RBI, tying Lorenzo Avagnina for the most hits and finishing second to Avagnina in average.

Rovinelli had an injury ridden 2009 season for the San Marino club, managing just a .215/.310/.281 batting line. He exploded once again in the playoffs before a leg injury hampered him the rest of the way. He made Italy's list of candidates for the 2009 Baseball World Cup. In the 2009 European Cup, he went 2 for 11 but did homer and drive in four.