Aidan
Maldonado

At 6-foot, 175 pounds Maldonado isn’t tall, but he’s strong and athletic with a quick arm. A noticeable change from the past is Maldonado’s shortened arm swing in back. This adjustment has inched his release point up to a high three-quarters from its previous three-quarters slot. Also, as a result, his lower half rush looked to be better controlled and more in sync with his upper half. With a four-seamer up to 89 mph and a fringy upper-70s breaking ball, the right-hander’s pure stuff was down a bit during my look in late October, but at his best he’s shown mid-90s heat and a dominant breaking ball. Another difference from my 2019 summer look in Cape Cod is the breaking ball, which was formerly a plus 84-87 mph power slider thrown from a three-quarter release point with a 2600-2700 rpm spin rate. By raising his slot, the spin axis has changed and the pitch now plays more as a hard curve ball with good depth in the 78-79 mph range. He worked slow and could stand to improve his pace, but overall Maldonado has shown the stuff to become a mid-round Day Two pick. His value could be further enhanced if the Illini opt to give him another shot as a starter, which looked to be the case this fall.

One of the crown jewels of Illinois’ No. 22 ranked recruiting class last fall, Maldonado struggled with his control as a freshman, posting a 23-30 K-BB mark in 26 innings, along with a 6.58 ERA. But he’s turned the corner in an emphatic way this summer, striking out 30 while walking just six in 17.1 innings over ten relief appearances. He was simply electric in a two-inning save against Brewster, racking up four strikeouts and allowing just one hit. At 6-feet, 175 pounds, Maldonado isn’t tall, but he’s strong and athletic, with a lightning-quick arm and an up tempo three-quarters delivery. He worked down in the zone with a heavy 92-95 mph fastball for two innings against Brewster, complementing the heater with a devastating power slider at 84-87 with hard, late tilt, and sometimes with sharp downer action. His slider was a consistent plus pitch on this look, serving as the putaway pitch on one of his four strikeouts, though the heater was the out pitch on the other three. A week later at Cotuit, Maldonado topped out at 96 mph, and his slider was again plus, with high spin rates in the 2600-2700 rpm range. Maldonado has the stuff to be a bona fide shutdown closer for the next two years at Illinois and a potential Day One draft pick in 2021, but it will be interesting to see if the Illini opt to give him another shot as a starter (five of his 13 appearances were starts this spring). (Fitt)

4/5/19: Electric-armed 6-foot-1, 175 pound freshman who was outstanding early in the game during his start against Coastal Carolina. Sat 94-95, touched 96 mph with a lively fastball at an average spin rate of 2250 rpm. Mixed in a plus to plus-plus slider at 83-85 mph (2400 rpm) with late, hard tilt. Strikeout type pitch at any level. Really rushes his lower half and does not throw against a firm front side. However, his arm action is clean and arm speed is super quick. He's also athletic, allowing things to usually come together in the end for him to find the strike zone. At this point in his development, his strike-throwing ability is much more control than command. Walked two in four innings on this look with 17 walks in 17 innings pitched on the season. (Seifert)

9/21/18: Ranked No. 2 overall in the state by PBR Minnesota during his senior year in high school, Maldonado showed why. Possessing a super fast arm and a fastball sitting 93-96 mph (2240 spin rate) with a 82-83 mph slider, his type of arm doesn’t typically make it through the draft and onto a college campus. Maldonado is an exciting and future top round talent for the Illini who will not be draft eligible until 2021. (Seifert)

6-foot, 160-pound right-handed hitting 2-way player. #279 in 2018 PBR overall. Lean live body. Good body control, some effort on release, upright finish, deep arm circle, fast and clean out front. Fastball was 84-85 mph with above avg. life. Slider was above avg. with depth, tight rotation, and ability to consistently land in zone for strikes. Good run on changeup, with depth, thrown at fastball arm speed. Square stance, leg kick trigger, hover to stride, creates whippy bat speed, clean path, aggressive swinger with mid/pull approach. 82 mph exit velocity. Athletic actions, moves with ease, long arm action, well above avg. carry on throws. 88 mph arm strength. 7.43 runner.

2016 Future Games- 6-foot, 160-pound right-handed pitcher. #166 ranked 2018 in PBR Overall. Lean wiry frame. Controlled delivery, long stride, good extension to plate. Some pause on back-side of arm action; clean and fast out front. Showed ability to add/subtract on fastball with command to both sides of plate. Fastball was 86-89 mph; touching 90 mph. Above avg. breaking ball with depth and tight spin, 11/5 shape, at 74-75 mph. Changeup showed solid fade, slight flat action, at 73-74 mph.