Royals top pitching prospect Frank Mozzicato to miss a month with injury
The former first-round pick was off to a terrific start.
Royals top pitching prospect Frank Mozzicato will miss a month of action after a collision with a teammate in practice, according to MLB.com reporter Anne Rogers.
#Royals No. 6 prospect Frank Mozzicato is on the 7-day IL in Low-A Columbia because of a collision with a teammate during practice. He is doing OK but expected to be sidelined for a month, per a Royals official.
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) June 3, 2023
Mozzicato was off to a terrific start this year for Low-A Columbia with a 2.14 ERA in nine starts. He had the fourth-highest strikeout rate among all minor league starting pitchers at any level with 74 punchouts in 46 1⁄3 innings. It is his second seasons in Columbia after he was the seventh-overall pick of the 2021 draft. Last year in Columbia he had a 4.30 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 69 innings with but a high walk rate of 16.7 percent.
The arms have looked good for Columbia, and they are second in the Carolina League in ERA. Ben Kudrna, another top prospect, has his ERA down to 3.73 after a rough start, and reliever John McMillion has struck out nearly half of the batters he has faced - 21 strikeouts in 43 plate appearances.