SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

Every time Carmen Mlodzinski trotted to the mound last year, the same bass riff started up before an incredibly loud drumbeat kicked in and sooner rather than later Ozzy Osbourne’s “No More Tears” was blaring throughout Founders Park.

For Mlodzinski the song wasn’t just a divergence from the typical walk-up music—the usual is either modern country or rap music—but a deviation from who Mlodzinski is as a person, and his play reflected that.

“Last year I tried to be someone I wasn’t, changed my personality and changed my attitude on a lot of things,” Mlodzinski said. “For 18 or 19 years of my life I’ve been fun, had fun with my game and I lost that fun and love for the game. I got it back, thank god.”

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After taking the reigns as the team’s frontline starter last year, Mlodzinski struggled by pitching just 10.1 innings in three starts with a 5.91 ERA before his season ended prematurely.

It was on the mound against Clemson where he broke his foot, ending his season and leaving a lot of time for self-reflection.

As he did, he slowly came to the realization something had to change if he wanted to live up to his potential.

“I just wasn’t a guy you wanted to talk to and be around last year. I’m lucky this team took me back in because I felt like I burned a lot of relationships with guys last year trying to be a little too selfish and be a little too personally successful,” Mlodzinski said. “I opened up. I’ve been like that for 18 years and I don’t know why I tried to change that and be too good at one time. I think that definitely helped.”

While he spent the rest of the season and the summer reshaping his personality, his body went with him.

After getting injured he and strength coach Billy Anderson made the decision to get as strong and put on as much weight as possible. Mlodzinski did, going from 215 to 230 pounds entering this season.

Having to throw from his knees for two months after surgery, Mlodzinski arm went with him and by the end of the season he was able to clear the right field fence throwing a ball from home plate.

He parlayed the added strength into a stellar Cape Cod League performance, posting a 2.15 ERA in 29.1 innings with 40 strikeouts to just four walks.

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“You watch and say, ‘That looks different.’ You can see it from him since the first time he got back on campus. That’s what the Cape can do for guys,” pitching coach Skylar Meade said. “I think with Carmen that’s the piece that’ll help him be at his best this year. I see it every day with how he plays catch and goes about his business. It’s unrecognizable in some ways.”

Because of what he’s shown since coming back from injury, Mlodzinski is widely considered one of the best college pitchers in the country with D1Baseball considering him the No. 7 college prospect and Baseball America having him going ninth overall in this year’s MLB Draft.

He added almost four miles per hour to his fastball this offseason—sitting right around 97 miles per hour—while working in a cutter, slider and changeup.

Mlodzinski said it’s hard to not pay attention to it, but he’s not on social media and can’t read much of the hype about it. But his last few months have shown Mlodzinski has the profile and talent to be one of the best pitchers in the SEC.

“When he gets all four pitches working he’ll be able to roll through some lineups. Not that it matters for us, but that’s why his draft stock is so high," Meade said. "He’s a guy with the way he pitches you could profile him as a real starter at the next level. Hopefully he does that for us in the spring.”

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“When you’re talented, a lot of times it’s about the mindset. He doesn’t watch as much video and doesn’t obsess over the analytics stuff. For him, he has great analytics," Meade said. "Just go pitch and compete. Be better at competing than the analytics. He’s made those adjustments. Then he’s just really good.”

The Gamecocks start their 2020 season a month from now, and Mlodzinski is the odds-on favorite to get the ball on Opening Day.

When he does, the music won’t be as intense as Osborne; Mlodzinski’s mentioned picking something more relaxed, hinting at something similar to Bob Marley.

Whatever it is, he’s hoping his personality shift contributes to what could be a really good draft season.

“I think at the end of the day if you’re trying to pitch like someone you’re not, you’re not going to have success. You need to pitch like your personality. Some guys are a little more straight forward and focused,” he said. “That’s not my way of enjoying the game.”