In the shadow of the MLB debut for Samuel Aldegheri and recent win for the Los Angeles Angels as well as the success of Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Alessandro Ercolani at High-A ball (6-2, 3.29 ERA with 93 K in 76.2 IP), Italian baseball celebrates and welcomes the initiation of two promising prospects into the world of professional baseball.
Pitcher Filippo Sabatini and first baseman Patrick Silva have reached an agreement to be signed soon with the Philadelphia Phillies, the same organization that signed current Los Angeles Angels pitcher Samuel Aldegheri, Both players depart on Wednesday, September 18th for the Dominican Republic, where they will train with international players at the Phillies facility to prepare for the winter season.
The news of Filippo Sabatini, a right-handed pitcher born in Anzio (Rome) on March 2, 2007, becoming a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization was announced on a Nettuno Baseball ‘45 Facebook video posted by Claudio Scerrato, pitching coach for Nettuno and European scout for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Filippo Sabatini is a product of the extraordinary and prolific baseball area that includes the cities of Anzio and Nettuno, having grown up in the youth teams of the Dolphins Anzio and San Giacomo Baseball Nettuno. He then moved up the ladder from 2019 to 2023 when he joined Lions Nettuno before entering the Academy of Nettuno Baseball and eventually playing for Nettuno BC ‘45. In 2023, at age sixteen, he made his debut in Serie A Baseball as a pitcher and this year he completed his second season in Serie A with Nettuno ’45 under the guidance and direction of Claudio Scerrato with a 5-1 record with a 2.23 ERA and 66 K in 40.1 innings pitched. In addition, he helped the Academy of Nettuno qualify for the Final Four of the U18 category of the Youth Finals and Team Italy win the 2024 European Baseball Championship in Regensburg, Germany.
During the 2024 Euros, Filippo Sabatini pitched in three games and picked up a save against Spain. In addition, he delivered a pinch-hit double in his only at-bat during the tourney in the final against Germany on July 14th. Filippo Sabatini was named the Euros Best Pitcher with a miniscule 0.64 ERA and 20 K in 11 innings pitched. In the past, he wore the Azzurri uniform for Team Italy at the 2019 U12 World Cup and, 2021 U15 European Baseball Championship.
Patrick Silva, a promising 15-year-old prospect, was born in Novara on February 5, 2009 to a family deeply tied to baseball because of his father, Conrado Silva, who serves a coach for Vercelli and Settimo. Patrick Silva grew up in the ranks of the Baseball Softball Vercelli and won the U15 Scudetto after going 3-for-4 with a home run in the semifinal against Crocetta and earning the save with three strikeouts in the final against the Torre Pedrera Falcons. Despite his young age, he made his Serie A debut this year with Settimo Baseball Club, contributing to the survival of the Settimo Torinese club with a triple line of .243/.303/.343, a home run, two doubles and a triple in twenty games played.
The Vercelli prospect caught the attention of the Philadelphia Phillies while playing for Team Italy during the U15 Baseball World Cup in Colombia. Patrick Silva was among the best players of the national team led by Azzurri manager Giuseppe Mazzanti, batting .481/.548/.741 with two triples, three doubles and seven runs batted in in eight games played. As a result, Patrick Silva was named to the WBSC All-World Team. In the past, he has represented Team Italy at the U12 European Baseball Championship and the U15 European Baseball Championship. In addition, he played five games in the Spanish U15 Championship with the Tenerife Marlins.
The news of Sabatini and Silva comes at a time of unprecedented growth and visibility for Italian players in America. Samuel Aldegheri became the first pitcher born-and-raised in Italy to debut in MLB, and recently obtained his first career victory with the Los Angeles Angels. Alessandro Ercolani is coming off a brilliant season for Pittsburgh Pirates Single-A Advanced Affiliate Greensboro Grasshoppers, while the young Williams Wong, another player who grew up in the youth teams of Settimo BC, concluded his second season in the Dominican Summer League with the Texas Rangers organization.
Forza #Italia!
by Luca Giangrande and Roberto Angotti
(Photo of Team Italy pitcher Filippo Sabatini in action against Israel during the 2024 U18 European Baseball Championship in Regensburg, Germany by Rene Thalemann/WBSC Europe)
