Frank Mozzicato is set to make his professional debut tonight in Columbia.
Jared wrote up an article about what you can expect from Mozzicato tonight in his debut.
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.
Is Nick Loftin the CF of the future?
Loftin’s speed and athleticism made him the perfect candidate to be the Royals’ potential solution in centerfield. Before the 2022 season, Loftin played games 2B, 3B, and SS for the High-A Champion Quad Cities River Bandits. He’s displayed a strong arm that could even hold up as a low-end right field arm which makes you believe there won’t be any concerns about his center arm. He’s got elite footwork, which gives you even more hope for his transition to the outfield.
AAA Omaha (17-19): W 8-1
After dropping five of six to the Iowa Cubs last week, the Storm Chasers got back on track against the St. Paul Saints (Minnesota) last night with a dominating victory. Daniel Mengden made his second great start in a row, Foster Griffin continues to be brilliant out of the bullpen, and the offense came through with a five-run seventh inning. Omaha is back at it tonight at 6:35 pm with Austin Cox on the mound.
Box Score:
– Dairon Blanco: 2-3, 2 BB, K
– Nick Pratto: 1-4, BB, 2 K
– Gabriel Cancel: 1-4, 2B, BB, K
– Vinnie Pasquantino: 0-3, 2 K
– Brewer Hicklen: 1-4, HR
– Clay Dungan: 0-4
– Daniel Mengden: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 ER
– Foster Griffin: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 R
– Jose Cuas: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 R
AA Northwest Arkansas (16-17): L 6-7
The Naturals blew a five run lead last night and fall back under .500 despite a pretty stellar effort from the offense. Michael Massey doubled twice and is now hitting .326 with an OPS of .911 for the season. His 120 wRC+ is the 29th best mark in the Texas League at the moment, and his .217 ISO is good for 24th best. He’s a 24-year old second baseman in AA, so the level of prospect stardom Massey is capable of is capped to some extent, but Massey has a great chance to be a big league regular if he keeps hitting like this.
Box Score:
– Maikel Garcia: 2-4, 2B, BB
– Nick Loftin: 1-5
– Michael Massey: 3-5, 2 2B, K
– Seuly Matias: 2-5, 2 K
– Nate Eaton: 1-5, K
– John Rave: 1-2, 3 BB
– Robbie Glendinning: 1-5, 3 K
– Tucker Bradley: 1-5
– Marcelo Martinez: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 R
A+ Quad Cities (13-21): W 8-7
Quad Cities rallied back from a 6-1 deficit last night by scoring seven runs in the final two innings to beat a very good Dayton team. Adrian Alcantara struck out Joey Votto who is on a rehab assignment for the Reds, Tyler Tolbert doubled twice, and the bullpen was nails in the victory.
Box Score:
– Tyler Tolbert: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 SB
– Peyton Wilson: 1-4, BB, 2 K
– Tyler Gentry: 2-5, 3B, 2 K
– Luca Tresh: 0-5, 2 K
– Kale Emshoff: 0-4, K
– Diego Hernandez: 3-4, 2B, SB, K
– Adrian Alcantara: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 5 ER
A- Columbia (11-23): L 5-15
The struggles continue for the Fireflies this year. Luckily for them, reinforcements are on the way. Daniel Vazquez, the prize of the 2020 international free agent class, made his full-season debut last night. Frank Mozzicato will be making his professional debut tonight and Ben Kudrna is making his debut on Saturday. Hopefully this will anchor down the rotation and help keep the team in more games moving forward.
Box Score:
– Edgar Martinez: 2-3, 3B, BB
– River Town: 1-4, HR, K
– Carter Jensen: 1-4, K
– Erick Pena: 0-4, K
– Omar Hernandez: 0-4, K
– Daniel Vazquez: 1-4
– Eric Cerantola: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 ER
Photo Credits: Josh Franzen (@PrtTimeFranimal)
Royals Farm Report 
Pleased to see some of the higher end guys making their way to Columbia. Makes them much more enjoyable to follow. Tyler Tolbert has surprised me this year. Kaufman’s role moving forward is still a starter? Garcia, Loftin and Massey promoted to Omaha at midseason?
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