Background
Born in Cesena, Maestri grew up in Viserba, a suburb near Rimini.
Born in Cesena, Maestri grew up in Viserba, a suburb near Rimini.
A pitcher, the 5"11", 180 pounds right-hander signed with the Chicago Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on January 6, 2006, making him the first Italian-born pitcher to be signed by a Major League Baseball team Maestri currently plays for the Hanwha Eagles of the of Korea Baseball Organization.
He played in the Italian minor leagues for Torre Pedrera.
In 2005 he played with San Marino Baseball in the Italian Baseball League, the highest league in Italy. Maestri was signed by Cubs scout Bill Holmberg, who also serves as pitching coach for the Italy national baseball team for whom Maestri pitched in both the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic.
Maestri gave up one earned run in two appearances out of the bullpen in the 2006 WBC. In 2009, Maestri pitched 2.2 innings without giving up a run. Early in the 2007 season, Maestri"s second season of professional ball with the Class A Peoria Chiefs, he gave up seven runs in two innings against the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
From that point on, he did not give up more than two runs in an appearance for the rest of the season, and converted his first seven save opportunities to earn himself a Midwest League All-Star nod.
His success in 2007 prompted the Cubs to try to convert Maestri into a starter. Thus, he began the 2008 season in the starting rotation of the Florida State League Class A advanced Daytona Cubs. In this role, he went 5-3 with a 3.69 European Research Area to again earn himself an All Star nod.
Following the all star game, Maestri was promoted to the double A Southern League Tennessee Smokies.
With the Smokies, Maestri made two starts in which he pitched 11 innings and gave up eight earned runs before shoulder soreness forced the Cubs to shut him down for the remainder of the season, and ended the Cubs" experiment with Maestri as a starter. The Cubs released Maestri in April 2011, and he signed with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.
On November 5, 2011, Maestri made his Australian Baseball League debut with the His performances earned him a spot with Team World at the 2011 Australian Baseball League All-Star Game. Maestri pitched a scoreless inning in the game.
Maestri continued the season as the Bandits" ace, finishing third highest in the league in strikeouts and innings pitched.
The Bandits ended the half a game short of the playoffs, with Maestri posting a 3.25 European Research Area and a 1.16 WHIP en route to winning the American Basketball League"s Fan Choice Award. Maestri played portions of for the Rimini Baseball Club and the Kagawa Olive Guyners of Japan"s Shikoku Island League. He then signed with the
Maestri signed with the prior to the season.