Brewers Draft Prospect Profile: South Carolina RHP Carmen Mlodzinski

Next up on our prospect profiles of potential Milwaukee Brewers draft picks in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft, we have South Carolina’s Carmen Mlodzinski.

There’s a string of college right-handers that are expected to be available still by the time the Brewers draft in the first round and not much longer after that. We’ve already looked at two of them in Cade Cavalli and Cole Wilcox, and now we take a look at the third one in Carmen Mlodzinski.

MLB Pipeline has Mlodzinski as the 21st ranked draft prospect in their Top 200.

Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, South Carolina

Standing at 6’2″ and 232 pounds, Mlodzinski is an imposing presence on the mound, and he backs it up with some big heat. His fastball sits in the mid-90s with movement, and has hit 99 MPH at times.

He pairs that pitch with a couple of plus-secondary pitches, including a power slider and a deceptive changeup.

It was tough for Mlodzinski to develop in his freshman and sophomore seasons at South Carolina. He struggled his first year, but had worked his way to the Friday night starter job his sophomore year. Unfortunately, just a few weeks into the season, he suffered a broken foot.

Mlodzinski has been a rising prospect since then due to his performance last summer in the Cape Cod League. “The Cape” as its known is essentially a finishing school for college players and allows them to further refine their skills and prepare them for the professional ranks. Scouts are all over the place in that league.

In the 2019 Cape Cod season, Mlodzinski dominated. In seven starts, he had a 1.83 ERA covering 34.1 IP with a 40:4 K/BB ratio for the Falmouth Commodores. His mechanics looked clean and scouts were impressed by his control. That performance has shot him up draft boards and made him a likely first round pick.

In the 2020 college season, Mlodzinski made four starts before games were cancelled. In those starts, he had a 2.84 ERA with 22 strikeouts. He had a rough game against Clemson, giving up six runs in six innings, but was otherwise dominant in his other three starts.

Overall, Mlodzinski has an above-average three pitch mix, good control, and clean mechanics. His foot injury was more of a freak accident than a sign that he’s injury prone. His plant foot landed awkwardly on the mound, likely on the edge of a hole, which broke it. He’s been healthy ever since and there appears to be no long term concerns.

He seems like a safe pitching prospect that can work his way through the minor league system quickly. If he’s on the board at 20, there’s a very good chance the Brewers draft him.

Based on mock drafts and the way draft boards are looking, the Brewers appear in position to be at the front of a run on college pitchers. That’s a good spot to be in, as it gives them their pick of the litter, being able to get the guy they prefer instead of having to take who ends up being left at the end of a run.