Erick Epifano

Erick Alessandro Epifano Duran

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 160 lb.

• Born March 31, 1990 in Barquisimeto, Lara Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Erick Epifano has played in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Italy.

Epifano was signed by Atlanta Braves scout Rolando Petit in July 2007. He made his pro debut with the DSL Braves and hit .255/.340/.298 as a backup middle infielder. In 2009, he hit .305/.384/.397 for the same team, starting at 2B. The Braves let him go and he was signed by Tampa Bay Rays scout Ronnie Blanco in July 2010. He was 4 for 20 with 3 walks for the 2010 VSL Rays. In 2011, he improved to .293/.380/.329 and fielded .970 at 2B.

He then played several seasons in Italy. He was 6 for 11 with a walk and a double for Godo in 2012. He batted .285/.336/.423 with Reggio Emilia in '13. He won the Gold Glove at short, fielding .970. He switched clubs again in 2014, going to Padova and hitting .224/.297/.328. He made the Italian national team for the 2014 European Championship, backing up Alessandro Vaglio at 2B, Juan Carlos Infante at SS and Alex Liddi at 3B. He hit .389/.389/.500 with 8 RBI in 6 games (3 starts), including 3 RBI against Sweden. He tied Alberto Mineo for 3rd on the team in RBI despite not being a regular starter.

The Barquisimeto native hit .304/.379/.391 in phase 1 and .277/.356/.385 in phase 2. He won another Gold Glove. He again played for the national team, in the 2015 Premier 12. He drove in Italy's first run in a Premier 12, doubling off Fernando González to score Infante. He hit .222/.263/.278 for the event.

In 2016, he batted .257/.303/.307 for Padova and fielded .965. He hit .355/.447/.484 for Italy in the 2016 European Championship, scoring 12 times in 8 games, stealing 3 bases in 3 tries and fielded .971. He had 4 runs and 4 RBI against Greece and 3 runs against Croatia. Only teammate Vaglio had more runs in the event (17); he also tied for 5th in doubles and tied for 4th in steals.

He played for T&A San Marino in '17. He did well for them in the 2017 European Champions Cup, going 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 2 RBI against Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg and scoring twice in a 7-3 win over the L&D Amsterdam Pirates in the 3rd/4th place game. He hit .333/.391/.571 for the event with 6 runs and 5 RBI in 5 games. He had his best season yet in Italy, hitting .370/.418/.610. He finished among the 2017 Italian Baseball League leaders in average (6th, between Nick Nosti and Leonardo Colagrossi), slugging (3rd, behind Oscar Angulo and Osman Marval), doubles (11, tied for 4th) and total bases (61, 8th). He was only 2 for 12 in the 2017 Italian Series as San Marino lost to ASD Rimini.

He slumped to .188/.200/.208 for San Marino in '18 with more errors (4) than RBI (3).