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Gamecocks not exploring medical redshirt for Mlodzinski

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

South Carolina is still without one of it’s best frontline pitchers this season with Carmen Mlodzinski going on week seven coming off a broken foot.

The Gamecocks Friday night starter entering the season has been out since the beginning of March after breaking his foot against Clemson and, once healthy, Mark Kingston said the team would likely use him and not look to apply for a medical redshirt.

Carmen Mlodzinski || Photo by Katie Dugan
Carmen Mlodzinski || Photo by Katie Dugan

“We haven’t gotten to that point yet,” Kingston said. “Carmen’s probably a professional prospect, so there’s a good chance if he has a good year next year—whether he’s a redshirt sophomore or a junior—he would move on anyway. We haven’t gotten to the point where we’ve talked about a medical redshirt.”

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A medical redshirt would mean Mlodzinski wouldn’t pitch the rest of this season and save a year of eligibility, coming back next season as a redshirt sophomore.

Mlodzinski would be draft-eligible regardless next season since he’s three years removed from high school and would likely get professional opportunities with a solid year as a junior next season.

Coming out of high school Mlodzinski was a top 500 prospect at Hilton Head High School (S.C.) and is rated as the No. 35 prospect for the 2020 draft by D1Baseball.

If that holds, Mlodzinski would likely leave to go to the professional ranks, which would mean the redshirt year wasn’t necessary. If he doesn’t redshirt, that would mean he’d be able to pitch this season at the end of the year if the Gamecocks are making any type of postseason push.

“You look at that option for guys that maybe will be senior signs or maybe never get a chance to play professional baseball where you want to extend their college career,” Kingston said. “I think Carmen is most likely a three-year college player anyway. If it gets to that point we’ll explore it, but we haven’t gotten to that point yet.”

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Mlodzinski made three starts this season before injuring his foot in the annual rivalry series against Clemson.

Before that, the team’s frontline starter was without a decision over his first three starts with a 5.91 ERA and a .279 batting average against.

If he does return this season, the Gamecocks (22-15, 4-11 SEC) are hoping to get him back later in the year with two regular season series left.

“I think we’re shooting for the Kentucky weekend. When he comes back he obviously won’t be a guy that can give you 100 pitches out of the gate,” Kingston said. “He’ll be a guy used strategically, maybe as a middle relief guy maybe as set up guy. We’ll see. We have to see how he’s feeling, how his command is and how his stuff is.”

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South Carolina hosts Kentucky May 11-13 in its final home series of the year before going on the road to end the regular season at Mississippi State.

Mlodzinski hasn’t traveled with the team on the road since conference play started and will likely not be on the 27-man roster this weekend with the Gamecocks taking on Texas A&M starting Thursday at 7 p.m.

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