2023 Cleveland Guardians prospect scouting report: #45 Nick Mikolajchak
Mikolajchak went from a being on track to be a setup reliever 2021 to a question mark in 2023 after a down 2022 season.
Background, Build and Delivery
Solid build for a reliever. Strong in the lower half with a high waist for his size. Moderately lanky. Recently cut what had been shoulder length blond locks. Good athlete. Repeats delivery fairly well. High arm slot and downhill release with good stride. Good extension on delivery. Pitched in a few different roles at Sam Houston State in college.
What Mikolajchak Does Well
Has a full arsenal to go to for a reliever with five pitches. Good changeup for a reliever with some fade. Fastball has good carry at the top of the zone. Big curve has plenty of vertical movement. Has a distinct two-plane break slider. Will get chases above the zone with the fastball and low and to the glove side with his breaking stuff.
What Mikolajchak Needs to Improve
In 2021, Mikolajchak was sitting 94-96 with his fastball and was hitting 97. He lost some of that velo in 2021, down to 90-93 and topping out at 94. His cutter was also much more hittable in 2022. All of his pitches saw a velo drop, and subsequently his strikeout rate dipped. His walk rate more than doubled as well. He went from a pitcher with above average control to a player with average control. Guys still swung and missed a fair amount at Mikolajchak’s stuff, just less than he did at Double-A Akron and his walks hurt him. He needs to find a way to regain some of his stuff from 2022.Â
Intangibles
Mikolajchak has always been a fiery competitor on the mound and knows when to turn it on and off. He has done well transitioning to the pen in pro ball after getting the chance at multiple roles in college.
Future
The 2021 version of Mikolajchak looked like a back end, set up type reliever with swing and miss stuff. The 2022 version was kind of an org reliever/call-up type. Can he regain some of his velocity from 2021 and control? Did the Triple-A ball throw him off? Was he 100% healthy? All questions Mikolajchak will look to answer in 2022. First, regaining his prior control would help because he still miss bats moderately well even at a lower rate than 2022, so he could be still be an effective reliever. It’s a big year for Mikolajchak. He was on track to be a 40 man add in the winter of 2022, but his stuff backing up was enough for Cleveland to not leave him off. If he finds his 2021 self. If he repeats 2022, he remains on track to potentially be a big league reliever, but in more of an up and down fill in role.
Role - 40 - Low leverage/up-and-down reliever
