Then & Now: Adam Mazur, Iowa
March 22, 2022
THEN MARCH 18, 2017: Six-foot, 135-pound right-handed pitcher-shortstop. Thin developing frame. Full rocker step into higher athletic tuck and turn balance point. Clean compact arm action from higher 3/4 slot. Shows ability to repeat mechanics well. Fastball was 79-81 mph with flashes of life; producing late run and sink action to arm-side of plate. The breaking ball is thrown with conviction and overall above avg. velocity compared to fastball. Tends to slow arm slightly on changeup creating flat action to plate. Overall consistent strike thrower as you would expect from a left-side infielder and competes well in zone.
NOW MARCH 22, 2022: After two lights-out starts against Air Force and Pepperdine in Weeks One and Two of the D1 college season, words of the first round were flying around the scouting industry. I wanted to again see for myself the progress Mazur had made since my earlier views from last summer in the Cape Cod League and last fall were not of that caliber.
Against Texas Tech the 6-foot-3, 175-pound right-hander wasn’t as sharp as he looked last summer on the Cape (3-0, 1.55 ERA, 29 IP, 18 H, 6 BB, 34 SO) and without the traditionally solid Hawkeye defense behind him, he took the ugly loss. The Hawkeye ace went four innings, allowed six hits, six runs (four earned), walked four and struck out five on 99 pitches. However, he was up to 97 mph on two occasions and sat mostly 95 mph in the first couple of innings with his fastball. Averaging 94 mph for the game, his fastball fluctuated in the 2050-2490 rpm range and averaged 2260. Normally known to create an average of around 20” of Induced Vertical Break, his IVB was down in this contest, averaging just over 17.5” of ride. Twenty inches of ride in NCAA baseball is 15th percentile, 17.5” is still above average, but much more common. He complements his No. 1 with a slider that will show better than average, and even plus at times. But, it did not show better than average on this look as just five of the 29 thrown were swung/missed. He did consistently throw it for strikes with the pitch sitting 83-86 mph with an average spin rate in the upper-2400s and maxing out in the mid-2600s. He also boasts an above average changeup in his arsenal, but just pulled the string a handful of times during this outing. Thrown with fastball arm speed, the cambio was firm at 87-88 mph with 1800 rpm of spin. Normally, Mazur will also mix in an above average curveball, but did not throw any on this look. Aggressive and competitive with an athletic delivery he profiles as a starter at the pro level. He is likely to receive strong consideration early in Day Two of this summer’s draft.