Matteo Bocchi

Matteo Bocchi

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 205 lb.

• School University of Texas, Odessa College
• High School ITE Melloni

• Born July 19, 1996 in Parma, Emilia-Romagna Italy

BR register page

Biographical Information

Matteo Bocchi has pitched as high as AAA and for the Italian national team.

Bocchi was on the Emilia-Romagna team in the 2008 Little League World Series. He had a 1-0, 1.93 record in the 2013 U-18 European Championship and went 1 for 6 with a walk and a run. He got the win over Misja Harcksen and the rival Netherlands; Italy went on to win the event.

He was 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in the 2013 U-18 Baseball World Cup, shutting out the Czechs in the 11th/12th place game; he and Ondřej Satoria tossed scoreless ball for six innings but Lukáš Ercoli lost it for the Czechs. He also was Italy's regular DH but was just 1 for 17. He spent most of 2016 with Odessa College, going 3-1 with a 6.15 ERA and 40 K in 33 2/3 IP. He reached the Italian Baseball League in 2016, going 1-0 for Bologna with one run in three innings. In the 3rd/4th place game of the 2016 European Champions Cup, he held the strong Neptunus Rotterdam team to one hit and no runs in 4 1/3 IP but Andrea Pizziconi struggled and Bologna had to scrape out the win. He also pitched one shutout inning in the 2016 Italian Series, working in an extra-inning victory for Bologna; they won the title.

The tall right-hander had a 6-4, 4.23 record for Odessa in the 2017 US college season. He returned to Bologna for the 2017 European Champions Cup, dazzling against the Rouen Huskies with a 7-inning mercy rule no-hitter, in which he only walked one (Larry Infante) to beat Marc-André Habeck. He tied Jose Rosario for the event lead in ERA, obviously led in opponent average (.091 ahead of Rosario), tied Hidde Brocken and Rosario for 7th in IP, tied Riley Barr and Diegomar Markwell for the most complete games, had the only shutout and tied Markwell, Raúl Rivero and Jean Granado for 3rd in Ks. Bologna finished second to Neptunus.

The Parma native transferred to the University of Texas for 2018 and was 4-1 with a save and a 3.05 ERA, working an inning in the 2018 College World Series. Whenever he returned from Italy, he brought back a 10-pound block of Parmesan cheese from his hometown for his teammates. He debuted for the Italian senior national team at the 2018 Super6. He got the start against the Czech national team but could not repeat his gem against them in the 2013 U-18 event. In a high-flying 25-10, 5-inning game, he went 2 2/3 IP (4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) before René Mazzocchi relieved.

He was 2-2 with two saves and a 2.45 ERA for the Longhorns as a senior. He was then signed as an undrafted free agent by Chicago Cubs scout Steve Riha. Bocchi split the summer between the AZL Cubs 2 (1-2, Sv, 4.40 in 8 G), Eugene Emeralds (1-0, 2.03 in 7 G) and Iowa Cubs (0 R in 2 2/3 IP, retiring 8 of 9 batters he faced in AAA). He fanned 35 in 30 1/3 IP in his minor league debut.

The Parma native then was with Italy for the 2019 European Championship. He made two appearances. Against Croatia, he relieved Murilo Gouvêa in the 7th with a surprisingly close game tied at 1. He retired all three batters in the 7th (Ronnie Krsolovic, Chris Ciatti and Fran Stančić-Vidrač). In the 8th, Kruno Gojković singled off him then Bocchi retired Slobodan Gales and Philip Smith grounded back to the mound, Bocchi starting a 1-4-3 double play. In the 9th, he retired Andrija Tomić then struck out Dario Colović and Antonio Horvatić. Italy failed to score during this time, and Alex Bassani took over in the 10th; they finally prevailed in extra innings. In the Gold Medal Game, he relieved Luis Lugo in the 4th with a 5-0 deficit against the Netherlands. He walked Roger Bernadina but he was caught stealing, then he retired Curt Smith and struck out Sharlon Schoop. In the 6th, Ademar Rifaela grounded out. He faced a scare when Sicnarf Loopstok and Kalian Sams singled but recovered to get Dwayne Kemp on a liner and John Polonius hit a come-backer for a force. Italy had scored once to close it to 5-1 when Yomel Rivera relieved, but they got no closer.

Italy advanced to the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier. He relieved Yomel Rivera in the 9th with a 4-4 game against South Africa. He retired Anthony Phillips, Kyle Botha (K) and Jonathan Phillips in order to send it to the 10th. After Italy scored six in the top of the 10th, Filippo Crepaldi relieved and Bocchi got the win. He also appeared against Spain, relieving Gouvêa in the 5th and pitching two shutout innings (2 H, 2 K) but Italy lost 4-3. He tied for 5th in the event in games pitched; only Michael Johnson pitched more games for Italy.

Bocchi wound up spending the summer of 2020 back in Italy, his first full season back home, after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the minor league season in the US. The Italian season was delayed significantly as well. He did very well at 7-1, 2.58 for Bologna with 44 K in 43 2/3 IP. He was 8th in the 2020 Serie A1 in ERA (between Michele Pomponi and Matthias Zocchi), 3rd in IP (after Manuel Santana and Matteo Galeotti), 8th in K (between Gouvêa and Dimitri Kourtis) and tied for first in wins with Alessandro Maestri, another Italian with experience in the high minors in the US. Bologna advanced to the 2020 Italian Series; he and Bassani combined on a Game 2 win over ASD San Marino but he struggled in his second start, finishing with a 6.30 ERA (only Maestri was higher among qualifiers for the Series) but Bologna won the title.