Frailyn Florian

Frailyn S. Florian Padilla

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.

• Born July 25, 1982 in Gaspar Hernández, Espaillat D.R.

BR register page

Biographical Information

Frailyn Florian has pitched in three decades, peaking at A ball in the US.

Florian debuted in 1999, going 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA for the DSL Marlins, followed by a 3-7, 3.65 record in 2000 for the same club. In 2001, he made it stateside with the GCL Marlins (6-1, 2.58, 7 BB, 54 K in 52 1/3 IP) and Brevard County Manatees (13 H, 8 R, 4 ER in 5 2/3 IP, 0-2). He tied for third in the Gulf Coast League in wins (two behind leader Emilo Ferreira) and tied Ronald Belisario for 6th in strikeouts.

Florian split 2002 between the Kane County Cougars (1-5, 3.61) and GCL Marlins (1 R in 2 IP). In '03, he pitched for the Jupiter Hammerheads (3-3, 4.95) and Greensboro Bats (4.72 ERA in 14 G). That ended his time in the Florida Marlins chain. He surfaced in Italy in 2006 with Anzio, going 5-2 with two saves and a 1.84 ERA. He was 10th in the Italian Baseball League with 83 strikeouts and second in ERA, behind only Jesus Matos.

In 2006-2007, he walked two, retired none and allowed two runs for the Tigres del Licey. In the summer of 2007, he was 0-4 with 7 saves and a 2.06 ERA for Nettuno, whiffing 52 in 48 IP. He tied Pete Nyari for the league lead in saves and was 8th in ERA (between Linc Mikkelsen and Chris Di Roma). He allowed only four hits and one unearned run in 10 innings in the semifinals, saving all three of his outings. In the finals, he had a 2.79 ERA and one save but Nettuno dropped the series to Grosseto. He was 0-1 for the Cardenales de Lara that winter, giving up three runs in 1 2/3 IP.

He fell to 2-3, 3.98 with five saves for Nettuno in '08. He still tied Mattia Salsi for second in saves, two shy of Nyari. He was 0-2 with two saves and a 6.26 ERA in a rough postseason. In the winter of 2009-2010, he was 0-1 with a 14.73 ERA for the Estrellas de Oriente. After a few years in the Italian minors, he returned to the IBL in 2014, going 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA for Nettuno. He was rocked in the 2014 European Cup, going 0-1 with 19 hits in 8 1/3 IP and a 12.96 ERA; he took the loss against T&A San Marino.

Florian made the Italian national team for the 2014 European Championship and fared well at 2-0, 2.38, beating both the French national team and Czech national team as Italy took the Silver Medal. He led his team in ERA and tied for the tourney lead in wins, even with Spencer Kreisberg, Diegomar Markwell, Arshwin Asjes, Mike Bolsenbroek, Eric González and Jan-Niclas Stöcklin.

After not pitching in the IBL in 2015, Florian returned with T&A San Marino in 2016. He did not fare as well as in the past with a 3-5, 4.71 record, though he was 1-0 with one run in 6 2/3 IP in the postseason. In the 2016 European Champions Cup, he fared much better. He blanked Heidenheim Heideköpfe for 8 innings but was matched by Luke Sommer; Ludovico Coveri relieved. He also wrapped up the 10-6 win over Kotlářka Praha with a shutout frame. He led the Cup in ERA (Raul Rivero also was at 0.00, but in 8 IP to Florian's 9).

The southpaw was 0-1 with a 8.10 ERA in the 2016 European Championship, part of a leaky bullpen as Italy finished a disappointing third. Against eventual runner-up Spain, he relieved Carlos Teran with a 3-3 tie in the 8th and allowed one run in 1 1/3 IP, taking the loss; Filippo Crepaldi took over in what would become a 8-3 rout. He took over for Tiago Da Silva with a 3-1 lead in the 8th against the Netherlands but walked his lone batter, Gianison Boekhoudt, before Teran relieved. The Netherlands would score to make it 3-2, then rally to win in extra innings. He relieved Gianfranco Rizzo in the 6th with a 3-1 lead over the Czech Republic, allowing one run in two innings and being replaced by Crepaldi with a 3-2 lead. This time, Italy held on.

Despite his struggles in the 2016 Euros, Florian was back on the Italian squad for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Their only older hurler was fellow lefty Junior Oberto.

Sources

• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation
• Baseball.it
• European Baseball Confederation