Last year, he was pitching hurt, ‘too serious.’ Now, he’s USC’s ‘goofball’ ace
Entering last season, South Carolina baseball’s top pitcher was clear, coach Mark Kingston said — right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski.
But while Kingston firmly believed in then-sophomore as his ace, the early results were not overly encouraging; just 8 1/3 innings through his first two starts, with eight walks, eight hits and six runs allowed, four earned.
And then, in the series opener at Clemson, Mlodzinski broke a bone in his foot with one out in the third inning, having already given up five hits and three runs. No one knew for sure at the time, but it was Mlodzinski’s final appearance of the season for the Gamecocks.
Ask Mlodzinski about it now, and he’ll say it wasn’t a freak accident. It was the end result of poor health, poor communication and a poor mindset.
“I really do think I was pitching on an injury from the start of the season, really from the start of the spring when we got back out there,” Mlodzinski said. “I mean, and that’s all on me. I wasn’t vocal enough with the coaches and the training staff. I just thought I could go out there and just get it done and get it done, but obviously that wasn’t the case. And that Clemson game was just a result of it just kind of all building up and just crashing on me, mentally and physically.”
Mlodzinski’s instinct to gut it out was part of an overall approach he took in 2019. Trying to be the leader of a staff and team that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals the year before, trying to prove himself as a high-level SEC pitcher, he put too much pressure on everyone.
“I didn’t take it as fun. I think I got a little too stiff on everybody, I was trying to be too serious,” Mlodzinski said. “I thought that’s what it took to be like a big league guy, try to be as good as you can.”
That injury, coach Mark Kingston said, could have been the beginning of the end for Mlodzinski’s career. Instead, it became a blessing in disguise.
“Almost like two weeks later, I said, ‘You know, I wasn’t pitching healthy that whole season, so I think it’s better to take time off and get healthy and come back strong versus then trying to pitch hurt, you know?’” Mlodzinski said.
With his time off, he went into the weight room and packed on muscle. Starting at 198 pounds as a freshman, he worked his way up to 230. Then it was off to the Cape Cod League in the summer, and things exploded.
Suddenly, Mlodzinski’s fastball jumped in velocity. His change-up went from just another pitch to one that made opposing hitters “uncomfortable,” as Kingston put it. His stuff improved across the board, and he left the Cape as one of the top MLB draft prospects in the nation.
Throughout the fall, the hype only continued to build. MLB.com and Baseball America have him listed in the top 10 of mock drafts, and D1Baseball.com has him as a top-10 college prospect in this draft class. And there’s still more stuff he can show the country once the season starts, pitching coach Skylar Meade said.
“His average fastball is almost three and a half miles an hour harder this fall than it was even last year. He threw hard before, but I just think he just exudes a lot more power in his delivery, it’s a lot more efficient, and he’s just got better stuff,” Meade said. “You know, we didn’t even use his arsenal this fall. I mean, we were throwing fastballs and change-ups essentially, but I think when he gets all four of his pitches working, he’ll be able to really roll through some lineups.”
The Gamecocks certainly need him to realize that potential for 2020 to be a success — injuries decimated USC’s pitching staff a year ago, leading to one of the program’s worst seasons in recent memory. And while Mlodzinski has all the stuff to be the team’s ace, his first two years in college ended with a 3-6 record, 5.59 ERA and 1.63 WHIP.
The mood around this year’s staff, though, is “light years” ahead of last year, Mlodzinski said.
“I think this year overall, we’re gonna have more fun out there. You’ll see that from us this year from the pitching staff, and then I think we got a lot of guys that came in this year that are going to be big-impact players,” he said.
That starts with Mlodzinski himself, who’s a self-described goofball. Pitching freer throughout the fall, he upped his communication with the coaching staff, and they noticed a difference.
“He’s made a lot of alterations in his mindset which, when you’re talented, a lot of times it’s all about the mindset,” Meade said. “He doesn’t watch as much video, he doesn’t obsess over the analytics. He has great analytics, so just go pitch, compete. Like, be better at competing than knowing the analytics side.”
Not over-analyzing things is how Mlodzinski is also approaching the growing buzz around his draft stock. Throughout the fall, dozens of scouts filled the stands behind home plate at Founders Park to watch him pitch. This spring, thousands of fans will be watching, expecting great things.
“(I don’t) necessarily block it out, but you just want to play your game like you do every single day, just like I was when I was six years old,” Mlodzinski said. “You shouldn’t change your personality or your mindset. It should just be the same thing, no matter who’s watching.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
