Frank Thomas Mace III (born November 11, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Cleveland Guardians organization. He played college baseball for the Florida Gators.

Tommy Mace
Mace with the Lake County Captains in 2022
Cleveland Guardians
Pitcher
Born: (1998-11-11) November 11, 1998 (age 25)
Tampa, Florida
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Amateur career edit

Mace attended Sunlake High School in Land o' Lakes, Florida. As a junior in 2016, he pitched to a 1.14 ERA with 64 strikeouts over 49 innings.[1] In 2017, his senior year, he went 8–2 with a 1.29 ERA and ninety strikeouts.[2] He was named the North Suncoast Pitcher of the Year by the Tampa Bay Times.[3] He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 12th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign and instead enrolled at the University of Florida.[4]

In 2018, Mace's freshman year at Florida, he appeared in 26 games (making six starts) in which he went 5–0 with a 4.16 ERA over 62+23 innings.[5] He played in the Cape Cod Baseball League that summer with the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox.[6][7] As a sophomore in 2019, he made a team-high 16 starts, going 8–5 with a 5.32 ERA.[8] That summer, he attended the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp in Cary, North Carolina, but was not named to the 26-man roster.[9] As a junior, he pitched to a 1.67 ERA over 27 innings before the college baseball season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11] He was considered a top prospect and was expected to be selected in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft, but was not drafted due to signability concerns, and thus returned to Florida to play in 2021.[12][13] In 2021, Mace appeared in 16 games (15 starts) in which he pitched to a 6-2 record and a 4.38 ERA over 90+13 innings.[14]

Professional career edit

Mace was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the second round with the 69th overall selection of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.[15][16] He signed for $1.1 million.[17] He was assigned to the Lake County Captains of the High-A Midwest League for the 2022 season.[18] In mid-May, he was placed on the injured list with a calf injury, and was activated in early June.[19] Over 22 games (21 starts), Mace went 1-5 with a 4.55 ERA, 75 strikeouts, and 38 walks over 85 innings.[20]

Mace returned to Lake County to open the 2023 season and was promoted to the Akron RubberDucks of the Double-A Eastern League in mid-June.[21] Over 24 games (17 starts), he went 6-6 with a 4.63 ERA and 103 strikeouts over 114+23 innings.[22] Mace was assigned to Akron to open the 2024 season.[23]

References edit

  1. ^ "Signings, commitments and transfers". The Laker/Lutz News. August 3, 2016.
  2. ^ "Local pitchers delay pro careers for college". The Laker/Lutz News. July 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Company, Tampa Publishing. "Tampa Bay Times' all-North Suncoast baseball teams". Tampa Bay Times.
  4. ^ correspondent, ANDY VILLAMARZO Suncoast News. "Pasco players again taken in MLB draft". Suncoast News.
  5. ^ "Florida Pitcher Tommy Mace Hopes for a Better Season on the Mound". January 31, 2020.
  6. ^ Torre, Nick de la. "Keeping track of the Gators in summer leagues | GatorCountry.com".
  7. ^ "Tommy Mace". pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "Florida baseball hosts Marshall in Opening Weekend". February 14, 2020.
  9. ^ "Mace Has Opportunity with Team USA - Florida Gators". USA Baseball.
  10. ^ Company, Tampa Publishing. "MLB draft decision looms for Gators star, Sunlake product Tommy Mace". Tampa Bay Times.
  11. ^ Collazo, Carlos. "2020 MLB Draft: Florida RHP Tommy Mace Ready To Outcompete Everyone". www.baseballamerica.com.
  12. ^ Healy, Teddy Cahill, Joe. "Florida Coach On Mace And Leftwich Returning, Gators' New Ballpark". www.baseballamerica.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Company, Tampa Publishing. "Sunlake High product Tommy Mace will return to Gators". Tampa Bay Times.
  14. ^ "What went wrong for the 2021 UF baseball team | GatorCountry.com". www.gatorcountry.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-11.
  15. ^ "Third time through: Tommy Mace's draft journey ends with selection by Cleveland".
  16. ^ "Cleveland Indians select 10 college pitchers among their first 11 draft picks". 12 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Draft Signings: 7/24/21".
  18. ^ "Captains Announce 2022 Roster: Six Top 30 Prospects to Guide Captains into 2022 Season".
  19. ^ "Guardians' Tommy Mace: Dealing with calf injury".
  20. ^ "Tommy Mace Stats, Fantasy & News".
  21. ^ https://www.milb.com/akron/news/three-former-florida-gators-now-akron-rubberducks
  22. ^ https://www.milb.com/player/tommy-mace-676390
  23. ^ https://www.milb.com/akron/news/guardians-announce-rubberducks-roster

External links edit