Ranking the ceilings of the St. Louis Cardinals' top pitching prospects

#6 - Brycen Mautz

Ranking on Cardinals' top prospect lists:
Baseball America: #15
MLB.com: #11
Birds on the Black: #17
Data Driven: NR (their list was only the top 12)

The Cardinals 2nd round pick in 2022 out of San Diego, Brycen Mautz spent his time in college bouncing between being an elite bullpen option and a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. This battle between being in the rotation or the bullpen will likely follow Mautz as he develops as a prospect.

Mautz has a really good fastball-slide combination from the left side, leading many to believe he could have a very high ceiling as a reliever. But the Cardinals are giving him a legitiment run at being a starter if he can figure out his control and up his velocity a little, his strikeout stuff could play in the rotation.

While Mautz can sit in the middle-to-upper 90s with his fastball in a relief role, he lingers more in the low 90s as a starter. He also has a brutal 4.17 BB/9 rate in 2023, which has to be improved before he can be a Major League starter. His 9.33 K/9 is exciting though, especially as he's in the very early stages of his development.

In 12 games this year, Mautz is 2-5 with a 4.17 ERA and 56 SO in 54 innings. The reason I have him ranked above McGreevy is because of that upside. If Mautz continues to work on his control, he can miss bats at a high rate. If he doesn't work out as a starter, he has a bright future as a high-end reliever.