First-round Gamecock: USC ace Carmen Mlodzinski headed to Pirates
From Hilton Head to Columbia to Pittsburgh.
South Carolina redshirt sophomore right-hander pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski was selected in the Competitive Balance A portion of the first round of the MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
Mlodzinski, who was taken at No. 31 overall, is the 15th first round selection in school history (including supplemental first round selections).
The Hilton Head native is the highest-drafted Gamecock since Clarke Schmidt was taken at No. 16 overall by the New York Yankees in 2017 and the second-highest drafted Gamecock in more than a decade.
The signing bonus slot value for the No. 31 pick is $2,312,000.
“It was a pretty up and down night,” Mlodzinski said on a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “I just kind of had to sit and watch and just see what happened. And then obviously getting to the Pirates, it happened pretty quick. I got a call from my adviser and he said, ‘You’re going to be a Pittsburgh Pirate,’ so I couldn’t be any happier.”
Arriving in Columbia as a lanky freshman with limited experience on the mound in high school, Mlodzinski quickly impressed head coach Mark Kingston and pitching coach Skylar Meade. He started seven games and made 19 total appearances in his rookie season, going 3-6 with one save and a 5.52 ERA. One of his victories came in the championship game of the NCAA Greenville regional, propelling Carolina to a Super Regional.
Mlodzinski was expected to take over as South Carolina’s Friday night starter heading into the 2019 season, with increased strength added to his 6-foot-2 frame. He got off to a slow start, however, and broke a bone in his foot in his third start of the year against Clemson, ending his sophomore season with a 0-0 record, 5.91 ERA and 11 strikeouts and 11 walks in 10.2 innings.
“I had a pretty good chance to be the number one starter for South Carolina and kind of had an idea of that going into my sophomore fall,” Mlodzinski recalled. “So I mean, I really just upticked everything I was doing on the mental side, the physical side. And really just wasn’t giving myself enough of a break from the game mentally and physically. And that kind of just led into not only a foot problem, (but) I felt like I just didn’t have the greatest relationship with guys that I had had before, just because I was so, I’m not going to say selfish, but really self-centered on what I was trying to do.”
Bouncing back in the Cape Cod League over the summer, Mlodzinski rocketed up draft boards with increased velocity in the mid to upper 90s, an improved changeup and a hard slider. He struck out 43 batters compared to just five walks in 34.1 innings, going 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA, and came into the fall with hype as a potential first-round pick.
“That was obviously the best I’ve pitched in my career, but it was one of those things where I just, I felt it was coming,” Mlodzinski said. “I mean, it was gonna be my sophomore year and then obviously figured out that I was overworking my body a little bit and had just one of those freakish kind of injuries. So I mean I knew that some good was gonna come out of it.”
Throughout fall scrimmages, Mlodzinski continued to showcase elite stuff, and he was off to a solid start in the spring, with a 2.84 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in four starts, with 22 strikeouts and eight walks in 25.1 innings. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, forced the cancellation of the season.
“All the mental side with coach Meade, I mean he’s helped me in ways I just can’t repay him,” Mlodzinski said of his experience at USC. “I went in there with, I’m not gonna say zero pitching experience, but pretty close to zero pitching experience. So he was able to help me to obviously get in the first round. But my three years there, it was something that I could just never repay him for. I’m just glad that he was there for me.”
Gamecock baseball MLB first round draft picks
Carmen Mlodzinski — 2020
Clarke Schmidt — 2017
Jackie Bradley Jr. — 2011
Justin Smoak — 2008
Reese Havens — 2008
Landon Powell — 2004
Matt Campbell — 2004
Drew Meyer — 2002
Brian Roberts — 1999
Adam Everett — 1998
Brian Williams — 1990
Mike Cook — 1985
Joe Kucharski — 1982
Randy Martz — 1977
Eddie Ford — 1974
