Carmen Alexander Mlodzinski (muh-jin-ski; born February 19, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB).
| Carmen Mlodzinski | |
|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 50 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: February 19, 1999 Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S. | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 16, 2023, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| MLB statistics (through 2024 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 8–8 |
| Earned run average | 2.91 |
| Strikeouts | 80 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
Amateur career
editMlodzinski attended and graduated from Hilton Head Island High School in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. In 2017, his senior season, he was named the South Carolina 4A Player of the Year.[1] After informing professional scouts that he would be honoring his college commitment to the University of South Carolina,[2][3] he went undrafted in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft and thus enrolled at USC to play college baseball for the South Carolina Gamecocks.[4]
In 2018, Mlodzinski's freshman year at USC, he pitched 45+2⁄3 innings, going 3–6 with a 5.52 ERA and 21 walks and 43 strikeouts over 19 games (seven starts).[5] As a sophomore in 2019, he was the Gamecocks' opening day starter.[6] However, during his third start of the year, he suffered a foot injury and missed the remainder of the 2019 season.[7] That summer, he returned from the injury, playing for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League and pitching to a 1.83 ERA and 43 strikeouts as opposed to five walks over 34+1⁄3 innings.[8][9][10] Mlodzinski entered his redshirt sophomore season in 2020 as a top prospect for the 2020 Major League Baseball draft.[11] He pitched to a 2.84 ERA over four starts before the college baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
Professional career
editMlodzinski was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 31st overall pick of the draft.[13] He signed with the Pirates on July 2, 2020, for a $2.05 million bonus.[14] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the pandemic.[15]
Mlodzinski made his professional debut in 2021 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the High-A East.[16] He was placed on the injured list on July 12 with a shoulder injury, and was activated on August 14.[17] He returned to the injured list once again on September 9, but was activated only one week later.[18] Over 14 starts with Greensboro, Mlodzinski went 2–3 with a 3.93 ERA and 64 strikeouts over 50+1⁄3 innings.[19] Following the end of Greensboro's season, he was promoted to the Indianapolis Indians of the Triple-A East, with whom he pitched two innings.[20] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas after the season.[21] He was assigned to the Altoona Curve of the Double-A Eastern League for the 2022 season.[22] In early May, he was placed on the injured list due to a shoulder injury but was activated a week later.[23] Over 27 games (22 starts), he went 6–8 with a 4.78 ERA and 111 strikeouts over 105+1⁄3 innings.[24]
To open the 2023 season, he was assigned to the Indianapolis Indians of the Triple-A International League.[25] In 19 games for Indianapolis, he registered a 3.16 ERA with 31 strikeouts and 1 save in 25+2⁄3 innings pitched. On June 16, 2023, Mlodzinski was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time after Rob Zastryzny was placed on the injured list.[26]
References
edit- ^ Rayford, Sean (June 14, 2017). "Report: USC baseball signee says no to the pros". The State. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
- ^ "Why Seahawks' Mlodzinski Probably Won't Be Drafted Today – And Maybe Not At All". LowcoSports. June 13, 2017.
- ^ "Hilton Head Ace Chooses College Over MLB". June 20, 2017.
- ^ Caraviello, David (June 16, 2017). "No head coach is no deterrent for drafted baseball recruits planning to stick with Gamecocks". Post and Courier.
- ^ "Mlodzinski looks to replicate Gamecock great". TheBigSpur.
- ^ GamecockCentral.com, COLLYN TAYLOR (February 13, 2019). "CAROLINA BASEBALL: Weekend pitching rotation is set". The Times and Democrat.
- ^ Hadley, Greg (June 26, 2019). "Gamecocks' top pitcher lost a year to injury. Now he's healthy, stronger than ever". The State. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
- ^ "Carmen Mlodzinski focuses on consistency". Baseball Prospect Journal. February 5, 2020.
- ^ "Change in Carmen: 'I was trying to be somebody that I wasn't'". TheBigSpur.
- ^ "#40 Carmen Mlodzinski". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ "Top Draft Prospects". MLB.com.
- ^ Cloninger, David (April 8, 2020). "Gamecocks' coach: Coronavirus pandemic 'much more important than us playing baseball'". Post and Courier.
- ^ staff, From; Reports, Wire (June 12, 2020). "USC's Mlodzinski picked by Pirates on the first day of the MLB draft". The Sumter Item.
- ^ Stumpf, Alex; Sports, DK Pittsburgh (July 3, 2020). "Pirates sign 2020 first-rounder Carmen Mlodzinski, one pick left unsigned". WPXI.
- ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Cancelled". MiLB.com.
- ^ "Four story lines to watch now that Pirates' minor league rosters are set". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ "Pirates Pipeline: How and why Braylon Bishop ultimately picked Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ "Why Po-Yu Chen signed with the Pirates last year and what's next in his development". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ "Minors Matters: A look at how the Bucs' Top 10 prospects fared in 2021". October 5, 2021.
- ^ "Pirates' Carmen Mlodzinski: Transferred to Triple-A". CBSSports.com.
- ^ "Here are the Arizona Fall League rosters". MLB.com.
- ^ @YoungBucsPIT (April 7, 2022). "The Young Bucs take the field this week!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Pirates' Carmen Mlodzinski: Placed on injured list". May 12, 2022.
- ^ "Carmen Mlodzinski Stats, Fantasy & News".
- ^ "Where the Pirates' Top 30 Prospects are starting season". MLB.com.
- ^ "Pirates' Carmen Mlodzinski: Selected to MLB bullpen". CBSSports.com. June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
External links
edit- Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- South Carolina Gamecocks bio