Giovanni Carrara

Giovanni Carrara Jiménez (born March 4, 1968) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions. He is currently the pitching coach for the Palm Beach Cardinals.

Giovanni Carrara
Pitcher / Coach
Born: (1968-03-04) March 4, 1968
El Tigre, Venezuela
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
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 record29–18
Earned run average4.69
Strikeouts338
Former teams

Career

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 recorded a winning game in their respective starts on 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.

See also

  • 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
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