Mason Molina - LHP - Arkansas
Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40
Molina spent his first two college seasons at Texas Tech and was the Red Raiders' top starter in 2023. After attending the U.S. collegiate national team trials that summer, he transferred to Arkansas. He pitched well early in the season before an ankle injury and control issues limited his effectiveness down the stretch.
Molina depends on the carry of his fastball and the effectiveness of his changeup. Though he only averages 90 mph and tops out at 95 with his heater, he throws it two-thirds of the time and gets swings and misses thanks to its carry through the strike zone. His plus changeup grades as his best pitch, fading and sinking in the low 80s and helping his fastball play up.
While Molina features two distinct breaking balls with depth, he has trouble landing his low-80s slider and mid-70s curveball for strikes and often misses badly with his curve. He threw more strikes at Texas Tech than he did this spring, and he'll need to do a better job of locating his offerings against pro hitters because he has little margin for error. His body got thicker this year, carrying 230 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame, and he'll have to devote more time to conditioning.
Ht: 6'2" | Wt: 215 | B-T: R-L
Age: null
School: Arkansas Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21
BA Grade: 45/High
Tools: Fastball: 55. Slider: 50. Curveball: 45. Changeup: 50. Cutter: 45. Control: 40.
Molina has been a reliable starter for three seasons, first in two years with Texas Tech when he posted a 3.77 ERA over 141 total innings from 2022-2023 and then this spring after transferring to Arkansas and joining perhaps the best pitching staff in the country. With Arkansas, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound lefthander posted a 4.47 ERA over 58.1 innings and 13 starts with a career-best 32.3% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate. He doesn’t light up the radar gun, but instead does a decent job mixing and matching with a solid four-pitch mix. He averages 89-90 mph with his fastball and will touch 95, but he gets well above-average riding life on the pitch and generally does a nice job attacking the top of the zone. He generated a strong 31% miss rate with the fastball this spring and also collected plenty of whiffs with his low-80s changeup and low-80s slider. Molina uses the changeup about a quarter of the time against righthanded hitters, but scraps it against lefties, where he instead employs his slider and a slower mid-70s curveball with depth. Molina’s fastball shape, durable frame and deep pitch mix give him a chance to start, but he’ll need to improve his command with all of his pitches to find the same success he’s had in college against professional hitters
