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-> Mozzicato, a 6-foot-3 lefthander, finished off the five-inning game with a flourish, recording his 11th strikeout with fastball in the low-to-mid 90s that hit Penders’ glove and echoed throughout the brick-lined grandstand, the scouts jotting their last notes and packing up. Mozzicato, who has been touching 94 MPH with the fastball, buckling knees and getting awkward check swings with the curve and working on a change-up, talked with a group, including a rep from the Yankees as they left. He does with everyone he meets at a ball field, thanking them for coming.
And they’ve been coming all year. Padres GM A.J. Preller showed up at Mozzicato’s signature no-hitter with 17 strikeouts at Southington on May 10.
“Looking at all these scouts, I think, ‘This is ridiculous,’” Frank’s mother, Suzanne, said. “I really just want him to clean his room. That’s my priority.”
Frank, with a smirk, responds, “She spills
everything.”<-
->One veteran National League scout, reflecting the latest buzz, predicted Mozzicato will go in the first two rounds of the MLB draft on July 11, perhaps among compensation pick Nos. 30-36. MLB assigned signing-bonus values in the neighborhood of $2 million for those picks last season, and high school prospects often sign above “slot.” More than enough, in other words, to hire someone to clean up after them.
“It’s not just four years somewhere,” said Frank’s father Anthony. “It’s UConn, it’s the Penders, strong family ties. We have an advisor [Boston-based agent] Joe Rosen, and he just said, ‘I understand about the education and UConn, but at some point you have to listen to this. It seems so fast how things took place. We are listening to all options, and we allow Frankie to be the lead voice, and we try to guide him in the best way.” <-