Baseball: Former Panther Iannazzo goes undrafted, signs with Chicago Cubs

A little more than a month after ending his senior season at Pitt, left-handed pitcher Matt… A little more than a month after ending his senior season at Pitt, left-handed pitcher Matt Iannazzo took the mound for a new team — the Arizona League Cubs, a team in one of professional baseball’s many rookie leagues.

Iannazzo, who signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs organization in late June, recently ended his Pitt career as one of the best pitchers to ever wear the blue and gold. He finished with the most wins and innings pitched in school history with 28 victories in 342 innings. He also ended up third on the all-time Pitt strikeout list with a career tally of 239.

But surprisingly, his success in college didn’t translate to being selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft in early June. His 5-foot-9-inch height might have been a detraction for major league scouts, as most big-league pitchers stand at least 6 feet tall.

Iannazzo, who was also a three-time All-Big East selection and made at least five pitching starts in each of his four years as a Panther, believes his impressive pitching statistics should matter more than his height.

“I felt, and still feel, that I have put up the numbers not only at Pitt, but in the Cape Cod league as well, to be selected in the draft,” he said. “Obviously, every team disagreed with me. It has given me a chip on my shoulder. I was never given anything in my life. This just adds to that.”

The Cape Cod league was where Iannazzo played baseball in the offseason during his Pitt career.

Pitt manager Joe Jordano reflected Iannazzo’s disappointment in not being drafted.

“I was surprised that Matt was not drafted,” the lefty’s former manager said. “He certainly had the ability and proved he could pitch at a very high-level consistently. I am very pleased he has this opportunity with the Cubs.”

Iannazzo hasn’t forgotten about being passed up by all 30 teams and doesn’t believe that there were 1,238 players better than him.

“The motivation is clear to me,” he said. “There is no way that 40 rounds of players are better than me. I refuse to believe they are.”

Iannazzo pitched his first career professional game on June 30, coming in for the seventh inning during a 12-8 Cubs victory. He allowed one hit but was able to get a double play ball to end the inning without allowing a run.

“It felt great — everything I hoped it would be,” Iannazzo said of the performance.

As a left-hander, he has the potential to become very valuable in professional baseball. A dominant left-handed starter, reliever or situational pitcher is coveted by all big-league teams.

Whatever his coaches decide to use him for, Iannazzo said he is prepared for the challenge.

“I am not sure what role they will have me in,” he said. “I’m accepting of anything.”

Jordano likes his former ace’s potential as a starter or a shut-down lefty relief pitcher.

“He would certainly be a left-handed matchup guy and be very successful, but Matt has a great tendency to get stronger as the game progresses, so it could go either way,” Jordano said. “In any scenario, again, I feel he will have success.”

Although he has been pitching since Pitt’s season began in February, Iannazzo is used to the heavy workload. Pitching this late in the summer is something he has done in summer leagues following his collegiate seasons.

“It’s not hard because I played in three of the most prestigious summer baseball leagues in the country,” Iannazzo said. “I am used to playing 100-plus games a season. I feel this experience is essential to any player.”

Iannazzo credits his development to Pitt pitching coach Tom Lipari, who has helped him strive to improve daily.

“My coaches at Pitt have been a huge influence on my development as a pitcher, especially Coach Lipari,” Iannazzo said. “He taught me that at this level, I need to continue to improve and not settle for who I am today.”

Lipari believes Iannazzo’s impressive pitching repertoire will give him a chance to succeed in professional baseball.

“He has a fabulous assortment of pitches with the ability to locate all of them,” Lipari said. “His fastball will range anywhere from 86 to 91 mph and presents harder to the hitter because his change-up is a plus pitch.”

Although the odds are against him as an undrafted free agent, Iannazzo has high goals for himself. He wants to be promoted to the short-season Single-A club by the end of the season and prove to everyone how big of a mistake they made by not drafting him.

“The goal for my first season, as well as any season, is to first prove that I belong, prove that I am good enough to be here,” Iannazzo said. “I want to move up the system as quickly as possible. I’m in rookie ball now, and I would like to be in short-season class-A ball by the end of the season.”