Working with athletes as big as Piazza — he was 6-3, 200 pounds in his playing days — isn’t something the dance company’s costume department is used to. But on Tuesday, when Piazza came in for his first rehearsal and fitting, Neal already had them prepared. Piazza swung his arms and shrugged his shoulders to test his range of motion in the taupe houndstooth suit. It was obvious a little tailoring would be required, as well a bigger fedora.

As for his acting, Piazza did impress the dancers with his exaggerated Italian accent, walk and the way he smoked a cigar. This, of course, wasn’t his first rodeo. He had a role in the movie Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock, and also has been featured in about 20 commercials, including a few in Japan when he was a teammate of Hideo Nomo’s with the Dodgers.

“He knows a lot about acting, which makes it a lot easier,” said Kleber Rebello, who will play the part of a jealous Russian dancer who hires Piazza’s character to kill a rival.

“He’ll be bringing different people, maybe people who haven’t watched ballet yet. It’s definitely a good opportunity.”

Piazza, who said he has lived in Miami Beach since 2001, is expecting his third child with wife and former Playboy model Alicia Rickter in July. It’s going to be their first boy, he said.

“We’ve sunk roots here,” said Piazza, who played at the University of Miami and Miami Dade College, which will enshrine him in its hall of fame in June. “This city is definitely a jewel in the United States.”

So what is next for Piazza?

He was hoping the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he only received 57.8 percent of the votes needed, and it takes 75 percent to get in.

Although Jeff Pearlman’s 2009 book on Roger Clemens — and others — has accused Piazza of being a performance-enhancing drug user, the former catcher refuted those claims in his own book, Long Shot, which came out in February. In the book, Piazza admits to using androstenedione, an over-the-counter supplement that helps increase testosterone levels and that also was taken by Mark McGwire before the substance was banned. But he denied that he ever took banned performance-enhancing drugs — particularly anabolic steroids and Human Growth Hormone.

Some major-league teams have reached out to Piazza about potential coaching opportunities, but he said he’s simply not ready for it yet.

“I really enjoy teaching,” Piazza said. “I’m not a huge mechanical guy, but I love to work on the mental aspect of hitting. I know hitting is very individual and very personal and I learned that from Ted Williams. But there are certain things I feel I can give mentally and I enjoy it. It’s really cool watching them progress. I think there’s a future there. I just don’t think the time is right now.”

Could he make time for Dancing With The Stars?

“I don’t know,” said Piazza, who already turned down an offer to be on the show once because he had made a previous commitment to coach Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

“Actually, that show is cool. I don’t want to brag and say I couldn’t do it.”