It was just announced today that Kansas City Royals 1st round pick Frank Mozzicato will make his professional debut with the Low-A Columbia Fireflies tomorrow. The Royals took Mozzicato 7th overall out of East Catholic High School in Connecticut. He signed for about $2 million under slot value which gave the Royals the flexibility to sign others over slot later in the draft like Ben Kudrna, Carter Jensen and Luca Tresh. Even though Mozzicato signed last year, he reported to Surprise but didn’t pitch in regular season games. He ended up making his debut during the instructional league out in Arizona.

Frank Mozzicato, the Royals first-round pick from 2021, will make his pro debut tomorrow at Low-A Columbia.

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) May 16, 2022

As Mozzicato prepares for his debut, what should we expect from the 6’3, 175lb left hander? The first thing to look out for is his curveball (72-76mph). It is already considered the best curveball in the Royals farm system. It is a plus pitch and is most definitely his best secondary offering. It has high spin and he is able to consistently place it in the zone for a strike as well as out of the zone to generate a lot of swing and miss. His fastball isn’t going to blow you away, but it is definitely above-average. He sits in the low 90s (90-93) and does a decent job commanding it. He has seen some increased fastball velocity and with his frame, he has plenty of room to grow into some more strength and hopefully see more increases in velocity. He has a third pitch which is a change-up that is fringer average at best with the potential to be average due to its depth. He will have to learn how to throw that pitch more consistently if he wants to have success at the pro level.

As promised, video ahoy. Here's Frank Mozzicato's first inning. #Royals pic.twitter.com/ZgxlYrhsRB

— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) March 26, 2022

The key thing to remember is that Mozzicato is young and still has a lot of development ahead of him. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He wasn’t highly scouted and popped up late for most in the draft. His athletic frame gives him plenty of room to keep filling out which could truly make waves in his development. His elite spin rates on his curveball isn’t something you can just teach and gives you another reason to not just write him off. He has a repeatable delivery and a great feel on the mound which will only help him as he makes his way through the minor leagues. When you watch Mozzicato, you can see all the makings of a potential mid-rotation starter.

It can be easy to be impatient with high school arms and the Royals seem to be playing it slow with the development of their most recent two high school arms in Mozzicato and Ben Kudrna. They have done a much better job at developing their younger arms compared to earlier years and aren’t afraid to push them off if they are showing success. There will definitely be an adjustment period for Mozzicato as he will go from facing high schoolers in Connecticut to professional baseball players every single day. The future of this club is exciting no matter what your thoughts are on the big league club currently. They have done a better job developing these guys as they make their way through. Needless to say, it will be exciting to see Mozzicato debut tomorrow. He may have only came in at #11 on our Royals Farm Report rankings, but that is not because he isn’t oozing with talent. It is because the Royals Farm is loaded. Which just makes our job writing about them even more fun than it already is! 

Frank Mozzicato vs Dustin Harris full at-bat. Mozzicato wins the battle getting Harris to ground out to second. #TogetherRoyal #StraightUpTx pic.twitter.com/LUfdRPwVfz

— Chris Clegg (@RotoClegg) October 14, 2021