2024 Cleveland Guardians Prospect Scouting Report: #49 RHP Tommy Mace

Mace is a former second round pick that originally appeared to be on the fast track as a starter

Justin Lada

Feb 02, 2024

Tommy Mace Bio

Age (2024 season): 25
Acquired: 2021 Draft, Round 2
2023 Level: High-A/Double-A
Height: 6’6
Weight: 230
Throws: Right

Tommy Mace 2023 Stats

G/GS: 24
IP: 114.2
ERA/FIP: 4.63/4.80
K/BB: 103/54
K%/BB%: 20.5%/10.6%
WHIP: 1.48

Tommy Mace 2023 Scouting Grades

Fastball 40
Curveball: 50
Slider: 50
Changeup: 45
Command: 30
Overall: 35+
Risk: High
ETA: 2026

Build & Background

Mace is a big-bodied right handed pitcher from Florida and also pitched at the University of Florida. He was drafted out of high school in the 12th round by the Reds but opted to go to school. He had a strong start to the 2020 season before the pandemic shut down sports. His strikeout/walk ratio in 2021 was strong in his final college season, but the results didn’t quite match that. Cleveland took him in the second round, and he reached Double-A for half the year in 2023 at age 24. He’s been mostly healthy as a pro, only having minor blisters and issues from being hit in the leg with a line drive. Mace has a pretty straight forward delivery that keeps him on-line with the plate,a rock and fire with a slight pause and a high 3/4 arm slot.

What Mace Does Well

The three secondaries Mace throws all have the potential to be average or better at times. I actually think his curveball might be his best offering currently. It’s a power, straight downer curve. He can pick up early count strike with it and has been able to get some chases on it as well. His slider is right there with it, as it has more horizontal tilt than vertical. It’s a good chase pitch and bat misser against right handers. His changeup is almost a split-like change with more vertical tumble and less arm side run. He can get misses with it at times as well. His delivery appears to keep him on-line with the plate, which should give him better control than he has. Mace is also a big bodied athlete which gives him the look of a durable arm that should benefit him. He’s been relatively healthy as a pro minus a few fluke injuries.

Where Mace Needs to Improve

At 90-94 without a lot of life at times, Mace’s fastball can be easy to ambush for hitters, especially when he misses over the plate. His fastball can miss some bats above the zone, but can be lifted for power. Overall control and command are a big issue for Mace. He doesn’t locate any of his four pitches consistently enough at this point. His power/split like change is thrown in the high-80s at times, which may be too close in velocity to his fastball, hurting the effectiveness of both. Mace just hasn’t missed enough bats in the minors the way he did in college and his overll control are lacking, losing his release point at times and not utilizing his strength and size into a fastball that has more velo and bores in on hitters.

Key Stat

It’s hard to trust the small sample size of splits, especially in the minors. But right handed hitters had an .838 OPS against Mace in 2023, while left handers only had a .708. This could be due to his changeup and curveball being viable weapons against lefties, but his slider should be against right handers.

Intangibles

Mace was a workhorse in college, maybe even overworked and a well-liked teammate, especially with current Cleveland teammate, Jack Leftwich, in college at Florida. He also had the confidence to bet on himself after being drafted in the 12th round out of high school and won that gamble, by being picked in the second round in 2021. This isn’t really about Mace specifically, but Florida generally leaves a lot of “meat on the bones” developmentally speaking with pitchers. So Mace had success and talent in college, but like others, it’s possible coaching didn’t get him as far as he could have gone. That was possibly part of the calculus with Cleveland grabbing him, Leftwich and Franco Aleman in 2021, to help him reach untapped potential that could still be there.

Future

I thought given Mace’s strikeouts and control in college, he’d be a fast moving starter. He didn’t to Double-A until the second half of his second year, and he struggled when he got there. Plenty of players struggle in their first exposure to Double-A, but the SEC is about as good as High-A/Double-A sometimes. Maybe there is more Cleveland will be able to help him improve upon, but the fastball velocity, shape, control and issues not missing as many bats sort of league his future role up in the air at the moment. 2024 will be a big year for him.

Role

35 - Depth starter/reliever