Giovanni Carrara

Giovanni Carrara Jiménez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.

• Debut July 29, 1995
• Final Game September 23, 2006
• Born March 4, 1968 in El Tigre, Anzoategui, Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Giovanni Carrara was a journeyman reliever, doing much of his damage with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 313 appearances over parts of ten seasons. In 472 1/3 innings, he finished 29-18 with a 4.67 ERA. He saw his lone postseason action in 2004, after a 5-2, 2.18 season with 2 of his 4 career saves in 42 games out of the Dodger bullpen.

Giovanni had an extensive international career. First, he pitched for Venezuela in the 2006 WBC, allowing back-to-back home runs to Cuba in the first game of the second round. A year later, he was on the Italian national team in the 2007 European Championship, pitching 7 scoreless innings in a win. He struck out 8, walked none and allowed three hits. The Netherlands protested Carrara's presence but the Technical Commission rejected the complaint. The Venezuelan Federation and Venezuelan Olympic Committee had given permission for Carrara to play for Italy and Carrara's birth certificate showed that he was an Italian citizen.

In the 2008 Caribbean Series, Carrara was 1-0 and allowed no runs in five innings for the Tigres de Aragua. In the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg, he was 1-0, allowing 3 unearned runs in six innings in an upset of DOOR Neptunus. He scraped out two saves to help Nettuno win the 2008 European Cup Final Four, but allowed a .333 average. He was 1-0 in the 2009 European Cup's Nettuno phase, fanning 5 in 3 shutout innings and beating the Rouen Huskies. In the Cup's Final Four, he tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings in relief of Carlos Richetti to get the win over Kinheim, bringing Nettuno to the finals, where Jeff Farnsworth got them the title with an even brighter gem.

Carrara set a Venezuelan League record by pitching for 24 seasons, breaking the mark previously shared by Venezuelan legends Luis Peñalver and José Bracho.

Carrara joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a pitching coach in 2015. He was pitching coach for the DSL Cardinals in 2015 and GCL Cardinals from 2016-2019. He was scheduled to return to the GCL Cardinals in 2020 but the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Carrara served as the pitching coach for the FCL Cardinals in 2021, and Palm Beach Cardinals in 2022-2024.

Carrara coached for Venezuela in the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. He also spent the early part of the 2018 Mexican Pacific League season as a bench coach for Águilas de Mexicali. In 2022/2023 Carrara was the pitching coach for the Cañeros de Los Mochis in the Mexican Pacific League which advanced to the 2023 Caribbean Series. In 2023/2024 he switched to the Venezuelan League as pitching coach for the Bravos de Margarita.