{"id":509176,"date":"2026-01-07T05:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T05:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/509176\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T05:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T05:14:12","slug":"guardians-sign-italian-rhp-to-minor-league-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/509176\/","title":{"rendered":"Guardians sign Italian RHP to minor league contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guardians sign Italian RHP to minor league contract<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Guardians<\/a> added another intriguing arm to their system Tuesday, adding an Italian pitcher to the organization\u2019s development pipeline.<\/p>\n

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The Guardians signed<\/a> the 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Ettore Giulianelli of Rimini, Italy, to a minor league contract, continuing the organization\u2019s reputation for uncovering high-upside pitching talent outside traditional pipelines.<\/p>\n

Giulianelli spent the offseason training at Tread Athletics in North Carolina after being released by the St. Louis Cardinals organization following the 2024 season. During that time, his velocity reportedly climbed significantly, drawing interest from multiple organizations across the league.<\/p>\n

MLB Network\u2019s Jon Morosi shared news of the signing on X (formerly Twitter), referencing a bullpen video posted by<\/a> Tread Athletics co-founder Ben Brewster that showcased Giulianelli\u2019s offseason progress<\/a> and notable velocity gains.<\/p>\n

The signing reflects Cleveland\u2019s long-standing confidence in its development infrastructure. After previously sitting in the low 90s, publicly shared training data shows the pitcher reaching the upper 90s in recent sessions.<\/p>\n

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The Guardians\u2019 minor league deal replaces an offseason agreement the right-hander had reached with an independent league club in Illinois, returning him to affiliated baseball with an organization widely respected for refining raw pitching talent.<\/p>\n

International pitching prospects, particularly from Italy, remain rare, making Giulianelli a unique addition. His unconventional background, paired with a recent velocity surge, presents a low-risk opportunity for Cleveland to evaluate his potential as either a starter or reliever.<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s pitching development system has produced consistent results over the past decade, and the front office has shown a willingness to invest in unconventional profiles. Giulianelli is expected to report to the team\u2019s development complex during spring training before receiving a full-season assignment.<\/p>\n

For the Guardians, the move represents<\/a> another calculated gamble aligned with their broader philosophy. If the velocity gains carry over into game action, Giulianelli could quickly emerge as one of the system\u2019s more fascinating arms.<\/p>\n

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Related: Orioles claim former Guardians playoff hero after DFA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guardians sign Italian RHP to minor league contract appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2380],"tags":[5,135,51,2565,67315,67316,538,9589,6522,20755,4,67,3627,34683],"class_list":{"0":"post-509176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-guardians","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-guardians","11":"tag-clevelandguardians","12":"tag-ettore-giulianelli","13":"tag-giulianelli","14":"tag-guardians","15":"tag-jon-morosi","16":"tag-minor-league","17":"tag-minor-league-contract","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","20":"tag-the-guardians","21":"tag-tread-athletics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115852113571024312","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}