Matteo D'Angelo

Matteo D'Angelo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 189 lb.

• School Winthrop University
• High School F. Enriques Liceo Scientifico

• Born March 17, 1988 in Latina, Latina Italy

Biographical Information

Matteo D'Angelo started a historic game for the Italian national team in the 2007 Baseball World Cup.

D'Angelo spent three years in the Italian Baseball Academy. In the 2006 World Junior Championship, he got a win against Mexico. Weeks after his 18th birthday, he debuted in Serie A1. He was 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA and nine strikeouts in 9 2/3 IP in 2006 for Italeri Fortitudo Bologna. In 2007, D'Angelo went 7-2 with a 1.94 ERA. He allowed only 42 hits in 74 1/3 IP for a .162 opponent batting average. He tied Juan Figueroa for 5th in Serie A1 in ERA, was 4th in opponent OBP (.249), tied Tony Fiore, Linc Mikkelsen and Junior Oberto for 4th in wins, had the lowest opponent average and was 10th in strikeouts. D'Angelo won the Enzo Masci Award as the top rookie in Serie A1. He was one of three pitchers chosen for All-Star honors on voting at www.baseball.it; Linc Mikkelsen and Emiliano Ginanneschi.

In the 2007 European Championship, D'Angelo walked 6 and fanned 6 in 6 2/3 IP but was 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA for Italy.

On November 9, the 19-year-old got the call to start against Team USA in the 2007 Baseball World Cup. The right-hander allowed 2 runs in 3 innings, including a solo homer by Justin Ruggiano, and got a no-decision in a 6-2 victory as Italy handed the US its only loss of the event. It was the first time Italy had ever beaten a Team USA that employed professional players and Italy's first win over the US in 21 years. D'Angelo retired the only batter he faced against the Mexican national team. Overall, he had a 5.40 ERA for the event.

D'Angelo joined the Winthrop University baseball team for the 2008 college season. He was 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA as a freshman. He went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA for Bologna that summer. With Winthrop in '09, he improved to 8-3, 3.09 and tied for 4th in the Big South Conference in wins while making the top 5 in ERA. In the Italian Series in 2009, he allowed one run in two innings. He got only one appearance for Italy in the 2009 Baseball World Cup (4 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 2 R in 3 IP against the Netherlands Antilles national team).

Matteo was 8-5 with a 4.01 ERA for Winthrop in 2010, walking only 18 in 94 1/3 IP. He tied for 5th in the Big South in victories. He did not pitch in Italy at all that year. He faded to 4-8, 4.54 as a college senior. He tied for second in the conference in losses. He pitched only briefly for Bologna in 2011 (2 R in 5 1/3 IP in the regular season, 3 R in 2 IP and a loss in the playoffs).

D'Angelo was 2-1 with five saves and a 1.79 ERA in 14 games for Bologna in 2012, allowing a .176 average. He was 0-1 with a save and a 5.14 ERA in four playoff games. He tied Darwin Cubillan and Carlos Pezzullo for third in saves in the Italian Baseball League, one behind Nick Pugliese and Pete Sikaras. He tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings (2 H, 2 BB, 5 K) in the 2012 European Cup to help Bologna win it all; he had a 3-inning relief outing to wrap up Luca Panerati's win over the Rouen Huskies. He was also sharp out of the bullpen for Italy when they won the 2012 European Championship. He got the win over Russia (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K in relief of Cody Cillo) and the Netherlands national team (3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, in between Carlos Richetti and Justin Cicatello in a 4-3 win).

He was 7-2 with a 1.92 ERA for Bologna in 2013. He tied Enorbel Marquez and Riccardo De Santis for 7th in the IBL in wins, was 6th in ERA (between Roberto Corradini and Filippo Crepaldi) and 8th in opponent OBP. He tossed two perfect innings in a win over the L&D Amsterdam Pirates in the 2013 European Cup. In the Amsterdam pool finale, he got the start but struggled (5 H, 3 BB, 4 R in 2 1/3 IP) against T&A San Marino; Raul Rivero relieved and Bologna rallied to win. In the Cup Final Four, he squared off with Telemarket Rimini in game two of the best-of-3 series, Bologna having won the opener. He was crisp this time (1 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 BB in 7 1/3 IP) but former major leaguer Yorman Bazardo was even better; D'Angelo was relieved by Oberto with a 1-0 deficit. Bologna rallied against Bazardo and Pezzullo, though, and won 2-1 to take the Cup title. They were the first team to defend a European Cup title since Kinheim of the Netherlands in 2007-2008.

He signed with the Mannheim Tornados of the German Bundesliga for 2014.

Sources: Baseball.it, Italian Baseball and Softball Federation, Old IBAF site, Winthrop University bio (no longer available), 2007 European Championship stats, 2009 Baseball World Cup, The Baseball Cube, CEB site