Carmen Peter Pignatiello (born September 12, 1982) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

and independent league

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

. He is a graduate of

Providence Catholic High School Providence Catholic High School (often referred to as Providence, Provi, or abbreviated PCHS) is a Roman Catholic secondary school located in New Lenox, Illinois. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Providence Catholic is a private ...

New Lenox, Illinois New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago and an eastern suburb of Joliet. The village population was 27,214 as of 2020. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High School ...

. He is currently working as an insurance agent in Illinois.

Professional career

Minor league career

Drafted by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in the 20th round of the MLB amateur draft, Pignatiello would spend seven seasons in various ranks within the

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

before being promoted in , his eighth season in professional baseball. In , he led the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

with a career-high 140

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 156.1 innings for the

Daytona Cubs Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Dayt ...

Major league career

Pignatiello was called up by the Cubs on August 14, 2007, due to the need for

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

relievers in the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. Two days later, he made his major league debut against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and pitched one scoreless inning of relief of a 12-4 victory. In March, 2009 Carmen was signed to a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins. Then released by the Twins, Pignatiello signed with the

Schaumburg Flyers The Schaumburg Flyers were a professional baseball team based in Schaumburg, Illinois, in the United States. The Flyers were to be charter members of the North American League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, but the team fol ...

for the 2009 season as a starter, which saw him have a less-than-stellar season, going 6-9 in 20 starts with a 5.87 ERA. Following the season, Pignatiello retired.

Coaching career

On February 16, 2011, Pignatiello signed a contract with the

Joliet Slammers The Joliet Slammers are a professional baseball team based in Joliet, Illinois, that play in the independent Frontier League. They play their home games at Duly Health and Care Field. They replaced the Joliet JackHammers of the Northern League ...

to be their pitching coach.

Life After baseball

Pignatiello is currently working as a Nationwide insurance agent in

Palos Heights, Illinois Palos Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 12,068. Geography According to the 2021 census gazette ...

Personal life

He is married, and has two sons. The Pignatiello family lives in

Geneva, Illinois Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the western side of the Chicago suburbs. Per the 2020 census, the population was 21,393. Geneva is part of a tri-city area, located between S ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pignatiello, Carmen 1982 births Living people Chicago Cubs players Baseball players from Indiana Major League Baseball pitchers Arizona League Cubs players Boise Hawks players Lansing Lugnuts players Daytona Cubs players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Iowa Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Rochester Red Wings players Schaumburg Flyers players People from Geneva, Illinois Sportspeople from Kane County, Illinois