Three of Kansas City’s recent top draft picks were on display last Wednesday– left-hander Frank Mozzicato took the mound, while 2022 picks Gavin Cross and Cayden Wallace sat 3-4 in the Fireflies’ order. Eric Brown Jr. wasn’t in the lineup for Carolina, but that gave Robert Moore a chance to slide over to shortstop.
Frank Mozzicato, LHP (KC)
Mozzicato didn’t make it easy for himself on Wednesday against the Mudcats, but he managed to allow just one run over five innings. His 94 pitches were a career-high, and just about every one of them were high-stress. The Mudcats showed incredible patience against the young southpaw, rarely chasing out of the zone and fouling off lots of pitches.
Mozzicato has an effortless, repeatable delivery, maintaining his release point out of a three-quarters arm slot. His fastball doesn’t come with much velocity, but he keeps it up in the zone with lots of positive vertical break. He was sitting 88-89 on Wednesday and touching the low 90s, but his frame indicates plenty of potential to add a few ticks going forward.
His best pitch is a curveball that flashes double-plus. When he commands it well, lefties have virtually no shot of hitting it, but it’s effective against righties, as well. It has good shape with plenty of negative vertical break despite just average spin rates as a result of good spin efficiency. The left-hander also mixes in a changeup to righties that flashes plus, with good velocity separation from his fastball and plenty of tumbling action. He maintains his arm speed and isn’t afraid to use it at the beginning of at-bats.
Mozzicato’s command was inconsistent – mostly with the fastball – on Wednesday, and improvements in that department will yield more whiffs on curveballs. That said, most of his misses were out of the zone, and he really only hung one breaking ball all game. When he mixes up his pitches, rather than relying too heavily on the breaking ball in a particular plate appearance, he induces lots of chases and whiffs.
The seventh overall pick in 2021 has a ton of poise and always battles, no matter the circumstances. He doesn’t show much emotion – even after working out of three jams in a four-inning stretch – but rather remains locked in walking off the mound.
Mozzicato has the framework to be a mid-rotation starter, and considering his maturity, feel for pitching and ability to make adjustments at such a young age, he has a good chance of reaching that upside.
Gavin Cross, OF (KC)
I have now seen Cross live twice – the first time coming back in April in Chapel Hill – and all he’s done in those two games is hit the ball hard and get on base.
His smooth, left-handed swing stands out, and his bat speed and barrel control provide him above-average power to all fields. After making great strides in the plate discipline department as a junior, he appears to have continued that trend in the early stages of his professional career. The toolsy center fielder drew two walks on Wednesday, refusing to chase balls out of the zone.
Cross has above-average speed with exceptional baserunning instincts that allowed him to reach first on a dropped third strike in the first and subsequently steal two bases, including getting in a rundown between first and second that allowed Carter Jensen to score.
The former Virginia Tech standout looked capable in center field, cutting off a ball in the gap and making a strong throw to prevent a runner from scoring from first on a double. His range is probably closer to average than anything else – he couldn’t quite make the sliding grab on a shallow fly ball when he was playing a little deep – and he could be a plus defender in right, if necessary.
Cross looks every bit the part of a top-10 overall pick, and could soar through the Royals’ ranks.
Cayden Wallace, 3B (KC)
Wallace has paired with Gavin Cross to form a formioable 3-4 punch in Columbia’s lineup. The second-round pick in this year’s draft delivered two hits on Wednesday night, including an RBI triple high off the center field wall to give the Fireflies the lead in the sixth.
He comes with a sturdy frame and quick bat that lend themselves to plenty of hard contact and raw power, but he will need to make some swing adjustments in order to maximize that power– he got under two hittable pitches for infield pop-ups.
Wallace made a handful of strong plays at third – showing good instincts on a pair of medium-hit line drives and charging in on a weakly-hit grounder to record the third out in the eighth inning – but didn’t get any opportunities to show off his arm, which is considered to be his standout tool.
Wallace’s profile points to a future as a big-league corner bat.
Carter Jensen, C (KC)
Jensen ignited the Fireflies’ offense on Wednesday with a one-out double off the right field wall in the second, eventually coming around to score Columbia’s first run. The Royals’ third-round pick from 2021 boasts a smooth, uppercut swing that produces consistent quality contact and above-average over-the-fence power. He keeps his head quiet and gets his hands through the zone quickly. He is also incredibly patient at the plate, allowing him to both draw a ton of walks and attack the pitches he wants to hit.
Jensen has surprising athleticism that helps him move pretty well on the bases and behind the dish. He looked like a solid receiver, staying balanced and not jabbing at pitches. He also did a decent job of keeping balls in the dirt – and there were many – from skipping away too far.
Jensen is a bat-first backstop who is already polished at the plate.
Robert Moore, SS (MIL)
It was a pretty uneventful evening for Brewers second-round pick Robert Moore, but I did get to see him hit from the right side and play shortstop– he only hit from the left side and was positioned at the keystone when I saw him earlier in August.
From the right side, he quiets down his leg kick just a bit and gets his foot down earlier, possibly compensating for less raw power from that side. Where the ball comes off his bat a little better as a lefty, his right-handed swing is extremely aggressive. Moore ran into a couple of hard-hit outs in this game, both pulled to the left fielder.
Defensively, he had two non-routine balls hit his way, and he displayed an impressive ability to charge in and throw on the run. He has elite instincts and a quick transfer to go along with solid arm strength.
Regardless of the results, Moore had the look of a guy who can handle either middle infield spot and make an impact from both sides of the plate.