Top prospects adjusting to pro ball at young age with Columbia Fireflies
The future of the Kansas City Royals organization runs through Columbia.
Not only is the Palmetto State home to the single-A minor league affiliate of the Royals, but it’s also home to three of the top-10 Royals prospects.
The kicker? They’re all under the age of 19.
Pitcher Frank Mozzicato is the youngest of the three prospects. The 18-year-old (but soon-to-be 19) Connecticut native was drafted by the Royals with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.
“It’s definitely crazy that I’m here at 18 … it’s surreal,” Mozzicato told The State. “You’ll sit back and think, ‘Holy crap, I’m playing professional baseball right now.’ Like, not even a year ago, I was playing high school baseball.”
Mozzicato’s draft stock shot up astronomically last year after he threw four straight no-hitters during his senior year of high school.
While he’s the youngest of the trio, Mozzicato is the highest-rated. He’s considered the No. 6 prospect in the Royals organization by MLB.com, just above fellow pitcher Ben Kudrna.
Kudrna is the No. 8 prospect for the Royals. Like Mozzicato, he was drafted right out of high school in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Outfielder Erick Peña is the third Fireflies player ranked in the Royals top 10. The former No. 5 international prospect in 2019-20 is currently ranked No. 10 in the organization. Though he’s a month younger than Kudrna, Peña was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2019 and already has a full season of minor league ball under his belt.
Being ranked in the top 30, much less the top 10, of prospects in any major league organization comes with high expectations. Despite this, the young prospects don’t let it get to them.
“It’s no pressure because I just try to do my best to follow my plan and my process, you know, not chase the monster results,” Peña told The State. “Because when you chase it, then you get pressure upon yourself. Just focus on working and give your best every day.”
While they are aware of the prospect ratings, Peña and Kudrna both emphasized that it’s nothing they let get to their head.
“You know it’s out there, but in our minds we know that it takes a certain level of talent to get to the big leagues,” Kudrna said. “As much as rankings might mean something to some people, for us, we’re still in just such a big development phase in our careers. And our careers are just starting out, so that kind of stuff you look at every once in a while, but it doesn’t really affect anything.”
While they might not feel the stress of expectations attached to high draft picks, the prospects are still adjusting to the professional level.
Mozzicato made his debut in Columbia on May 18 against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
“I was definitely excited and a good amount of nervous just because it’s my first time pitching in front of fans in almost a year,” Mozzicato said. “It was super exciting. First inning, the heart was beating fast and then after that I was just calm, cool and collected, just doing my own thing.”
Mozzicato totaled three innings that game, giving up one hit and no runs in his first start for the Fireflies. Signs of the eventual growing pains showed up in his second start, when he gave up five earned runs in 0.1 innings pitched.
Since then Mozzicato has gotten back into a groove, starting three more games and getting his ERA down to 7.82.
Peña’s numbers haven’t looked the best so far this season, hitting only .144 from the plate through 41 games. Despite the cold streak, Peña is third on the Fireflies in home runs (six) and he said he’s putting in “more and more” effort every day.
“The results, like they’re not like the best ones,” Peña told The State. “But from the power point it’s OK, so it’s just a little, like, average ... we’re working on it.”
Kudrna has arguably made the best adjustment to minor league ball, sitting with a 0.66 ERA after four starts. Through 13.2 innings pitched Kudrna has only given up six hits, one earned run and has struck out 16 batters.
“I’m adjusting every day” Kudrna said. “Every day, there’s something new, there’s something that I want to work on, I might want to tweak with a little bit. Every day is a new day and they bring new solutions and new challenges, but I think just being consistent, sticking with it trusting that in the end it’s going to work out, it’s helped me a lot.”
With the Fireflies in the middle of their 2022 season, there is still plenty for the young guys to learn and adjust to in the minor leagues.
Their season in Columbia won’t end until mid-September unless they are called up to the Royals high-A team in Iowa, the Quad City River Bandits.
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 11:11 AM.
