Sam Aldegheri

Samuel Aldegheri

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut August 30, 2024

• Born September 19, 2001 in Verona, Verona Italy

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Biographical Information

Left-handed pitcher Sam Aldegheri is the brother of Mattia Aldegheri. In 2024, he became the second player born and raised in Italy to reach the majors, after Alex Liddi a decade earlier. There had been other Italian-born players before them, but all of them had moved to North America at a young age.

He was 0-1 with a 23.14 ERA for Italy in the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup. He was originally signed as an international amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies on July 2, 2019, for a bonus of $210,000. The scout was Claudio Scerrato. He pitched for ParmaClima Parma in Serie A1 in both 2019 (1 H, 2 BB in 1/3 IP) and 2020 (2-0, 4.82), the latter because there was no baseball being played in the U.S. that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He made his U.S. debut in 2021 with the FCL Phillies and also pitched for the Clearwater Threshers that year before returning to the Florida Complex League for a full season in 2022. In 2023, he split the year between Clearwater in the Florida State League and the Jersey Shore BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League, going a combined 4-1, 4.84 in 20 games and starting a combined no-hitter against the Bradenton Marauders on April 8th. On July 27, 2024 he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels as part of the deal for closer Carlos Estevez. When he was promoted to the Show at the end of August alongside fellow prospect Caden Dana, he had never pitched above Class AA, having compiled an ERA of 3.59 in 19 starts across three leagues.

He made his debut on August 30, 2024 as the starting pitcher for the Angels against the Seattle Mariners, going 5 innings and allowing 7 runs (only 2 of which were earned) in a 9-5 loss. A two-out error by SS Zach Neto in the 1st inning led to five runs and undermined his effort.

Further Reading

• R.J. Anderson: "Angels pitcher Sam Aldegheri to become first pitcher born and raised in Italy to appear in MLB game", CBS Sports, August 30, 2024. [1]
• Rhett Bollinger: "'Anyone can make it': Aldegheri makes history for Italy in debut", mlb.com, August 31, 2024. [2]

Related Sites

• Samuel Aldegheri on mlb.com