Craig Italiano Stats & Scouting Report

IP	384
ERA	4.711
WHIP	1.555
BB/9	4.781
SO/9	9.258

Full name Thomas Craig Italiano
Born 07/22/1986 in Cleveland, OH
Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 215 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Flower Mound
Drafted in the 2nd round (53rd overall) by the Oakland Athletics in 2005 (signed for $725,500).

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Flower Mound is loaded with pitching prospects, including Paul Kelly, Jordan Meaker and Brandon Gaviglio, but it all starts with Italiano, who has lit up radar guns more consistently than anyone in the nation this spring. He has pitched in the mid-90s and touched 97-98 mph on several occasions. "He has thrown bullets every time out," one scouting director says. Italiano also has improved his breaking ball, taking it from a slurve to more of a true slider. He has drawn comparisons to Brad Lidge, and Italiano's future may be in the bullpen because teams worry about his delivery and durability. He short-arms the ball and throws with a lot of effort, and the consensus is that whoever drafts him will have to let him keep pitching that way. Italiano had elbow problems in the past and missed a mid-April start with shoulder inflammation. He pitched well after returning, finishing his season with a shutout in the Texas 5-A playoffs, Flower Mound's lone win in a three-game series.

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Organization Prospect Rankings

In the wake of "Moneyball," the Athletics surprised the industry by selecting high school arms in the second through fourth rounds of the 2005 draft, starting with Italiano. His arm strength has long been evident, but injuries limited him to 35 combined innings in 2006 (when he had labrum surgery) and 2007 (when a line drive hit him and caused a skull fracture). Healthy again in 2008, Italiano hit the wall once he got to high Class A and struggled there again as a starter last season. After the Padres acquired him along with Sean Gallagher and Ryan Webb in a midseason trade for Scott Hairston, they made Italiano a full-time reliever and lowered his arm angle from over the top to high three-quarters. His power fastball/slider combo and spotty control had long suggested a bullpen role. With his new slot, he touched 96 mph and sat at 92-94 more consistently, while showing outstanding boring action and improved control. His slider showed more depth, and Cal League batters struggled to lift either of Italiano's pitches. He didn't allow a home run in 31 innings while generating a 5.71 groundout/airout ratio with Lake Elsinore. A physical mound presence with strong makeup, Italiano could be ready to for the big league bullpen at some point in 2010, especially after being added to the 40-man roster in the offseason. He'll likely start the year in Double-A.
Perhaps Italiano's biggest accomplishment in 2008 was that he managed to stay on the field the entire season, though the A's still limited him to 100 innings as he tired down the stretch. In 2006, he appeared in only four games before going down with shoulder problems and having labrum surgery. The following year, he took a line drive off his head and spent three days in a Chicago hospital with a skull fracture, ending his season after six starts. Italiano dominated the low Class A Midwest League in his third try and earned a promotion to high Class A, where Oakland moved him to the bullpen to limit his workload. Italiano has a lively low-90s fastball that tops out at 96 mph. He backs it up with a hard, tight curveball with 12-to-6 break. His changeup is a decent third pitch but not nearly as effective as his fastball and curve. Italiano's control is below average, which along with his mechanics and medical history might lead him to the bullpen. His arm action is a little short in the back and he doesn't pitch downhill as much as one might expect for a pitcher with his size because he collapses his back leg and gets his front shoulder tilted upward. Because of his limited 2008 workload, the A's again will carefully monitor Italiano's innings in 2009, when he'll likely return to Stockton as a starter.
Italiano held a lot of promise when the A's signed him away from Texas Christian for $725,500 in 2005, but the last two years have essentially been lost seasons for the righthander. Italiano lasted just four starts in 2006 before his shoulder broke down and needed labrum surgery. In 2007, he lasted six starts before being struck in the head with a line drive by Mariners' shortstop Carlos Triunfel and spent three days in a Chicago hospital with a skull fracture. He has pitched just 54 innings as a pro in three seasons. Italiano has one of the best fastballs in the system when healthy, topping out at 98 mph, and his curveball has shown signs of being a second plus pitch. But he's a max-effort righthander with a short arm action who's lost a ton of development time. Italiano was back pitching again during instructional league, but there is some concern in the organization about him getting past the mental residue of being hit by the line drive. He should be ready to return to low Class A when camp breaks in late March.
A season ago, Italiano ranked ahead of his 2005 draft cohorts and was the top-ranked pitcher in the organization after Santiago Casilla--who was later found to be three years older than previously thought. He was a high school teammate of Twins infielder Paul Kelly at Flower Mound High and was committed to play at Texas Christian before the A's gave him a $725,500 signing bonus. He lasted just four starts in 2006, though, before his maximum-effort delivery and short arm action led to a labrum tear that required surgery. He has the system's best fastball when healthy, a power pitch that hit 98 mph in high school and has hit 96 repeatedly as a pro. His curveball also showed signs of being a plus, power breaking ball. Italiano was not ready to return to the mound by instructional league, and the A's won't know what his stuff looks like post-surgery until he takes the mound in spring training. He should return to low Class A once healthy.
Italiano showed more velocity than any pitcher in the 2005 draft, but a bout with shoulder inflammation and questionable mechanics dropped him to the second round. The A's took him, the first of six high school pitchers they took with their next seven picks, and signed him for $725,500. Italiano's fastball immediately became the best in Oakland's system, sitting at 93-95 mph in the Rookie-level Arizona League and touching 96. His heater peaked at 98 in high school. He has refined his slurvy breaking ball into a true slider, which could become a plus pitch. Italiano short-arms the ball and has a maximum-effort delivery, leaving many concerned about his long-term health and projecting him as more of a power reliever. He rarely has thrown a changeup, and his fastball can be a little too straight at times. Italiano will join fellow 2005 draftees Jared Lansford and Vince Mazzaro to create that rarest of happenings in the Oakland system-- a low Class A rotation consisting mostly of teenagers. While his future may be in the bullpen, the A's will give him every chance to use his overpowering stuff as a starter.

Minor League Top Prospects

Italiano struggled as a starter with Stockton (5.63 ERA) but was reborn as a reliever with Lake Elsinore (1.44 ERA) after the Padres acquired him from the Athletics in the Scott Hairston trade. Besides changing his role, San Diego also altered his arm angle, dropping Italiano from over the top to three-quarters. His fastball velocity and slider both improved after he lowered his slot--and scouts already thought both were pretty good. Italiano's fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 96, and his slider may be a better pitch. He got a fair amount of grounders as a starter, but his 5.7 groundout/airout ratio as a reliever borders on a misprint. His control also improved noticeably, so he's likely to stay in the bullpen as he advances.
Italiano finally conquered the MWL in his third try, after tearing the labrum in his shoulder in 2006 and having a line drive fracture his skull in 2007. He worked 5 2/3 innings and struck out nine in a combined seven-inning no-hitter against Burlington in his second start, and he earned a promotion to high Class A by late June. Italiano's fastball sits in the low 90s and peaks at 96, but some observers think his curveball is an even better. It's a hard, tight curve with true 12-to-6 break, and managers rated it the best breaking ball in the league. He throws his changeup for strikes, though he ultimately may become a reliever if he can't smooth out his delivery and command.
Italiano went 1-2, 6.75 in eight appearances, but he must be measured by his stuff, not his statistics. He has a short arm stroke and two excellent pitches, notably a fastball that was consistently clocked at 97-98 mph. The pitch often is too straight, however, and he needs to develop more consistent command of it, which should come when he stops trying to overthrow it--a typical fault of young pitchers. He also has a hard curveball that was effective when he threw it for strikes. "He tries to throw his fastball too hard," A's manager Ruben Escalera said, "but it's 98 miles an hour and he's able to work it in and out when he has control of it."