Javier Fandiño

Javier Jose Fandiño Hidalgo

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 198 lb.

• Born September 4, 1991 in Acarigua, Portuguesa Venezuela

Biographical Information

Javier Fandiño has pitched in Italy and Venezuela and for the Italian national team. He is the brother of Jesus Fandino.

He played in Venezuela's independent league before coming to Italy. He made it to Italy's top league in 2021, going 3-8 with a 3.11 ERA and 100 K in 81 IP for Brescia, tying for 5th in losses. He moved to Cagliari in 2022 and improved to 9-3, 2.37 with 160 K in 110 IP. He led in strikeouts (6 ahead of Yoel Suarez), was 4th in IP, tied for 6th in wins and tied Carlos Quevedo for 4th in starts (17). The next year, he posted a 9-4, 3.22 record with 163 whiffs in 106 1/3 IP. He was 7th in innings, 3rd in K (after Anderson Martinez and Frank Madan), tied for 5th in wins and tied for 3rd in starts (again 17). That winter, he was 0-1 with a 21.60 ERA for the Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan League. He did not play in Italy in '24.

The lefty was 2-2 with a 2.81 ERA for Padova BSC in 2025. He then made Italy's team for the 2025 European Championship. Debuting against Greece, he replaced Luca Di Raffaele in the 5th with a 6-4 lead. He whiffed Kasey Caras, got Dimitri Kourtis on a fly, plunked Ari Sechopoulos and retired Nick Varon. Marco Artitzu took over. He also turned in a shutout inning versus France. In the title game, against the Netherlands, he took over for Matteo Bocchi in the third with a 2-1 deficit. He retired Didi Gregorius, walked Jonathan Schoop and got Hendrik Clementina on a double play grounder. Italy tied it in the top of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, though, he yielded a homer to Sharlon Schoop then Juremi Profar and Eugene Helder both singled. He got Ray-Patrick Didder on a grounder that advanced the runners; Artitzu came in but let both inherited runners score and Fandino took the loss to Shairon Martis. He tied Bocchi and Gabriele Quattrini for 4th on Italy in games pitched.