The junior starter from the University of Miami would have helped the Hurricanes be relevant deep into the NCAA Baseball season this spring.  McMahon solidified himself as one of the better pitchers in the state of Florida.  The combination of McMahon, Slade Cecconi, and Brian Van Belle make the ‘Canes weekend rotation one of the best in the country.  

McMahon is a very good athlete playing soccer, basketball, and baseball in high school.  He uses that athleticism to his advantage easily repeating his delivery, backing up bases, and covering first base.  

His athleticism also helps McMahon to have a very low effort delivery.  He has simple mechanics starting on the first base side of the rubber.  McMahon takes a small rocker step, pauses with his hands at his belt for a second as if he is gathering his wits, and then continues on with his calm delivery.  McMahon is in control on the mound and even seems to exude a state of calm around him to his teammates.  

McMahon had been working 93 to 97 while popping some higher velocities this spring.  He has been pounding the strike zone which is good to see because McMahon only averaged 5.0 innings per start as a sophomore in 2019.  The knock on him was he needed to be more efficient with his pitches forcing him to leave games too soon.  This new found efficiency allows him to be in games longer and have a bigger impact on his team’s success.  McMahon’s fastball also has late life and seems to jump on hitters getting to their hands.  

McMahon has a swing and miss change up.  The pitch works 82 to 84 and seems to float away from left-handed hitters.  McMahon turns the pitch over well on his release hiding the spin and working the pitch down.  If he can keep the pitch down, it is a really good compliment to his fastball tunnel.  

McMahon also throws a slider.  The pitch has true slider movement with late break moving from about 11 to 5 from the catcher’s perspective.  This is also a swing and miss pitch and McMahon uses it on the back foot of left-handed hitters and away from right-handed hitters.  Neither seems to see the pitch better than the other and both don’t get good swings on it.  This pitch was thrown from 85 to 88.  The velocity allows him to have three different speeds and helps him get this pitch in on lefties.  This pitch flashes as a plus pitch and again works with his fastball tunnel.  

McMahon loves to be on the baseball field and really enjoyed being on the field for Team USA last summer.  McMahon traveled to Taiwan and posted a 2.25 ERA while leading the USCNT in strikeouts.  He enjoys traveling and the opportunity to meet new people.  McMahon should have those opportunities once he is drafted and starts playing pro ball.  He could be a solid pitcher going forward and could be in someone’s rotation for a long time.

McMahon would make sense for the Royals as solid college arm.  There were a few mocks with him going in the first round this spring but I haven’t seen any with him recently.  McMahon did everything he needed to do in this short spring to show scouts he is the real deal.  It’s hard to know where exactly he will go, but I doubt he is available at 76 for the Royals.  But, this year’s college pitching class is so deep, one of those solid arms is possibly going to drop to the Royals.  I wouldn’t be upset to see the Royals take McMahon at 41 for all the above reasons.  I like him ahead of his teammate Slade Cecconi who happens to be one of Alex’s favorite arms at 32.  Again though, this draft is deep with college pitching and I’d be okay with Cecconi.  Actually, I’d be happy with the entire Hurricane weekend rotation.

Make sure you check out the other names we’ve looked at in the 2020 MLB Draft Profile library!

Image from the Miami Herald.  No credit was given.