Giaconino Lasaracina, the Newest Blue Jay To Follow in the WBC

Make that 13 players from the Blue Jays organization participating in the World Baseball Classic. 

Giaconino Lasaracina has two transactions listed on his MLB.com player page. In February, he was named to Team Italy's roster for the World Baseball Classic. A month later, the Toronto Blue Jays signed him to a minor league contract. 

Lasaracina, 22, was born in Venezuela but evidently has Italian heritage. The righty batter played three seasons of Italian Serie A baseball from 2022-24, slashing .374/.451/.579 (1.030), excellent even by the much higher offensive standards of the Italian Baseball League. That is the extent of his professional experience, at least according to Baseball Reference. 

He did, however, play for Italy in the 2025 European Baseball Championship. Lasaracina appeared in all seven of Italy's games, leading the team with 13 hits, 15 RBI, and a 1.701 OPS. His dominant offensive showing helped the Italians beat Switzerland, Lithuania, Greece, France, Germany, and Czechia before they lost to the Netherlands (by one run) in the final. The loss, it should be said, came despite Lasaracina's best efforts. He hit six home runs in the tournament, more than any other player, with his last one coming against the Netherlands in the championship game.

Lasaracina is listed as a catcher on MLB.com, but he is categorized as an infielder on Team Italy's roster. Meanwhile, the WBSC Europe website describes him as a catcher/infielder/outfielder. According to Baseball Reference, he was primarily a catcher and third baseman in the Italian League, though BR's fielding stats for Serie A are incomplete. He played at least 24 games at third, 23 behind the dish, eight at first base, and nine as a pitcher too, although that only accounts for about two-thirds of his total games played. (For what it's worth, he pitched to a 2.89 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 9.1 IP – though he also walked 13, hit four batters, threw three wild pitches, and gave up seven unearned runs on top of three earned. That’s not a pitching line you see very often!)

All that to say, it's not yet clear what position Lasaracina will play in the Blue Jays organization. It would boost his value if he can catch on a regular basis, but based on the available evidence, all I can really say is that it seems like he's a bat-first player.

Now, there's a high likelihood Lasaracina never makes the majors. You might never hear his name again. But it's for all the same reasons he's a wild card that his signing is so interesting. It's not every day the Blue Jays ink a 22-year-old international free agent with so little professional experience (and from Italy, no less). It's even more unusual that we get a chance to see such a player perform on one of the game's highest stages so soon after his signing. 

Lasaracina probably won't be in Team Italy's regular starting lineup, but hopefully, he'll make it into a few first-round games. Here's when and where you might be able to catch him play:

Team Italy WBC Pool Play Schedule

Italy is in Pool A with the USA, Mexico, Great Britain, and Brazil. While the Americans are the heavy favourites in the pool, an Italian team featuring Kyle Teel, Jac Caglianone, Vinnie Pasquantino, Aaron Nola, Michael Lorenzen, and, of course, Giaconino Lasaracina, is a dark horse to upset Mexico and advance to the quarterfinals for the second WBC in a row. It won't be easy, but if Lasaracina can hit anything like he did in last year's European Baseball Championship, it will certainly help the cause. 

Lasaracina will be even more of a dark horse once he starts his career in affiliated ball, but he, like Team Italy, will be an underdog worth watching.