Giovanni Carrara
Giovanni Carrara Jiménez [car-rah'-ra] (born March 4, 1968) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. Listed at 6' 2", 225 lb., Carrara batted and threw right-handed. He established himself as a valuable middle relief man in MLB, as well as a solid starting pitcher in the Italian Baseball League.
| Giovanni Carrara | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Pitcher | |||
| Born: March 4, 1968 El Tigre, Anzoátegui, Venezuela | |||
| |||
| Professional debut | |||
| MLB: July 29, 1995, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||
| NPB: April 7, 1998, for the Seibu Lions | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| MLB: September 23, 2006, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| NPB: October 8, 1998, for the Seibu Lions | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 29–18 | ||
| Earned run average | 4.69 | ||
| Strikeouts | 338 | ||
| Former teams | |||
Carrera initially struggled as a starting pitcher in the major leagues but later became an effective long reliever. He had a 90–92 MPH fastball, along with a couple of breaking balls, a deceptive slow curve, and particularly his off-speed pitch; a hard one that was somewhere between a slider and cut fastball. He controlled the running game as well, with a good move to both first base and second, and a quick delivery to the plate.
On August 15, 2001, Carrara combined with fellow Venezuelan pitchers Omar Daal, Kelvim Escobar, and Freddy García to win their respective starts: Carrara, of the Dodgers, facing Montreal, 13–1; Daal, in a Phillies victory over the Brewers, 8–6; Escobar, of the Blue Jays, over Oakland, 5–2, and García, of Seattle, against the Red Sox, 6–2. This marked the first time in major league history that four pitchers coming from Venezuela have recorded a winning game in their respective starts in the same day.
On August 26, 2006, Carrara was designated for assignment by the Dodgers. He was called up in September 2006 when rosters expanded and used sparingly after re-joining the big league club. The Dodgers chose not to re-sign Carrara in the offseason.
On May 4, 2007, Carrara was signed by the Caffè Danesi Nettuno of Serie A1 in Italy. In 2008, he was 8–2 with a 2.35 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or Nettuno BBC
- The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3