Cleveland Guardians 2023 Top 50 Prospects, No. 42 RHP Tommy Mace
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As the future of the organization prepares for a new year and spring training to begin, there’s no better time to bring you the Cleveland Baseball Insiders top 50 prospects for the upcoming 2023 season.
The Guardians are widely regarded as having one of the deepest and top farm systems in all of baseball. So deep, in fact, that it was very difficult to trim the list down to just 50 players I think could have an impact at the MLB level. I probably could easily have ended up listing 75 or more players.
I am implementing the Fangraphs future value grading scale which you will be able to locate under each player video. Future Value is a grade on the 20-80 scale that maps to anticipated annual WAR production during the player’s first six years of service.
My rankings are based off seeing the players live, watching video and having conversations with other evaluators and writers. While prospect lists are fun and entertaining for fans, they are not an end-all-be-all in terms of who make it eventually to the major leagues. Remember, Jose Ramirez was never a top 100 prospect nationally and Oscar Gonzalez wasn't even a top 20 prospect in the Guardians organization.
The ultimate goal here is to inform our readers and give you information on some of the young talent in the organization that they can follow and look forward to seeing in the future at the MLB level.
No. 42 Tommy Mace - RHP
2022 Stats
Bio
Cleveland Guardians right-handed pitching prospect Tommy Mace was taken in the second round (pick 69 overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft out of the University of Florida. Cleveland had Mace sit out the rest of the 2021 season after being drafted setting him up to make his professional debut with the organization in 2022.
2022 Season
The Guardians assigned Mace to High-A Lake County for the start of the 2022 season where he remained all year. Mace had plenty of ups and downs during his first professional season from dealing with a couple separate stints on the injured list to some inconsistency in his performance on the mound.
Over Mace's 22 starts on the year, he posted 4.55 ERA over 85.0 innings pitched. Over his 85.0 innings he only allowed 74 hits leading to opponents hitting just .231 against him on the season. He struck out 74 batters but did allow 38 walks. The walks were concerning since coming out of the draft he was known to have pretty solid control.
Mace had of his best starts of the season (not reflected on his season stats) which came during the Captains playoff series vs Great Lakes. In the start he threw 5.1 scoreless innings allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out six.
Arsenal
Mace offers a five-pitch mix with a fastball that sat around 91-to-92 mph in 2022 taking a dip from the 93-to-94 mph topping out at 97 mph during his final year at the University of Florida. His best pitch is a slider that grades out above average and as good late tilt. Mace offers an average curveball and changeup as well as a fairly new pitch a cutter that has good movement and was a weapon against left-handed batters.
2023 and Future Outlook
Look for Mace to start the 2023 season possibly at Double-A Akron due to his age (24) and draft pedigree. There is a chance he may start the year back at High-A Lake County just due to the depth of starting pitchers in the organization.
His future ceiling currently is that of a back end of the rotation starter or a spot starter at the MLB level. If Mace can regain the velocity as well as control, he displayed his final season at the University of Florida his ceiling and prospect ranking will be much higher.
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