MMN Top 40 Prospects: No. 21 Cory Mazzoni

21. Cory Mazzoni, RHP

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 190

DOB: 10/19/1989 (Age: 24)

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Fastball: 55/60 Curveball: 45/55 Change-up: 35/45 Control: 50/50 Makeup: 55/55

It feels like forever since I have written about Mazzoni. He was the 2^nd round pick for the Mets in the 2011 MLB Draft, and made his debut in the same year by making a start for Brooklyn. He spent 2012 split between St. Lucie and Binghamton, where he experienced moderate success – but mainly in St. Lucie. After his struggles in Binghamton, the Mets decided to keep him there for 2013, but he battled with injury through a lot of the year. If I remember correctly, he was plagued by a hamstring injury and an elbow injury. He made only 13 appearances, spanning 66.0 innings with a 4.36 ERA. He struck out 74 and walked just 19, but gave up 70 hits as well.

Coming out of college with solid mechanics, Mazzoni rocked a fastball-curveball combo that led to a healthy strikeout rate as long as he was consistent with the curveball. He can ramp the fastball up to 97, but there isn’t much life or movement. As we’ve seen with Bobby Parnell, no matter how hard you throw – location and late movement on a fastball are usually the difference. From what I’ve read, he throws a split-fingered change-up as his third pitch, but with very little consistency and it might end up turning him into a bullpen arm.

Outlook: Mazzoni recently turned 24, and although he’s amassed a total of 146.2 innings in Double-A, it almost feels like he hasn’t made much progress. He has a good frame for a pitcher and could still turn out to be a #4 starter, but it’d be nice to see him put together a full-season in 2014 to really help gauge his progress.