Maddux Bruns A Closer Look

On Sunday the Dodgers selected left-hander Maddux Bruns in the first round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft with the 29th overall pick. His selection came as a bit of a surprise to the average fan as he was not connected to the Dodgers in any mock draft, at least that I had seen.

Certainly part of the surprise was that he was not included in mock drafts but also that his ranking was not even close to No. 29. Those rankings included,

Ÿ    MLB 49

Ÿ    BA 48

Ÿ    FanGraphs 52

Ÿ    ESPN 87

During his senior year at UMS Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, Alabama,  Bruns went 7-0 with a 0.86 ERA. He allowed just 13 hits and six earned runs in 49 innings pitched while striking out 102 batters and walked 19.

In mid-March Bruns retired all 18 batters he faced in a six-inning perfect game as the  Bulldogs beat Murphy 14-0 at Hank Aaron Stadium. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound lefty struck out 10 in front of a crowd of Major League scouts. He threw just 55 pitches.

“He was dominant,” UMS coach Kevin Raley said. “He had command of his fastball. They put the ball in play some. Murphy is a vastly improved team, but he was Maddux. He competed and threw well.”

Bruns was named the Class 5A Pitcher and Player of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association and was this year’s Mr. Baseball and the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year. He was the third left-handed pitcher selected in the 2021 first round and the second high school left-hander.

Two things happened during his senior season that caught the attention of scouts. First, his velocity jumped from 88 mph or so to mid-90’s topping out at 97 mph. Secondly, because of his hard work and the support of his high school coaches, his control and command improved significantly. It might have been his control, or lack of, that caused many teams to shy away from Bruns as a first-round selection.

How does Bruns account for his improved velocity?

“I think the one thing was just getting in the weight room and getting stronger,” Bruns said of his new-found power. “My velo’s been going up since last summer or two summers ago and I was up to 91 at Jupiter last year. This school year I was sitting 90-92 and I touched 94, and during (COVID-19) quarantine I really got to long-toss a lot.

“I got to take a little bit of a break and not focus so much on just lifting weights; I got to focus on my mobility a little bit more. I had a lot of extra time just to do stuff like that and I think that helped a lot.”

His high school coach was not surprised by his first-round selection although it had not been projected in mock drafts.

Bruns’ coach at UMS., Kevin Raley, had this to say about his talented lefty:

“Maddux is a true four-pitch player. His velocity is special. … He has what I call an ‘old-fashioned’ curveball, a real 12-6 pitch that’s tough for even right-handers to hit. He complements that with a slider and a changeup – he’s just a special player.”

“Some people don’t understand how hard it is to find 96 from the left-hand side,” Bruns’ high school coach Kevin Raley told Ben Thomas of AL.com. “You just can’t find that.”

“I’ve never coached a kid or coached against a kid who had the stuff he had,” Raley said. “He gave up 13 hits all season. You just don’t see that.”

“Maddux is a tremendous leader with a tremendous work ethic,” Raley said. “He’s also a very focused kid. With all that was going on around him, I was amazed at how he handled it. There were 20-25 scouts and assistant general managers around every time he pitched. It didn’t bother him at all. He just went out and pitched, and he was the same way at practice.”

We expect his high school coach to speak highly of him but young players don’t always get the superlatives. What do opposing coaches think? Saraland head coach had this to say after an outing against Bruns.

“I’ve been doing this for 18 years now as a head coach and I’ve never seen a kid like that in high school baseball,” Saraland coach Brett Boutwell said. “That kid has a bright future ahead of him.”

Bruns described himself as a Braves fan – now formerly a Braves fan – and his Dad as a bit of a Braves fanatic who really appreciated Braves right-hander and HOF pitcher Greg Maddux. Hence, the name for his son. The younger Bruns no doubt also appreciates Greg Maddux but his role model on the mound has been HOF pitcher-in-waiting, left-hander Clayton Kershaw.

Bruns is the first left-handed high school pitcher drafted in the first round by the Dodgers since Clayton Kershaw went seventh overall in 2006  and Kershaw is the pitcher Bruns says he emulates. He wanted Kershaw’s 12-6 curveball, and he got it. He likes the way he pitches. He likes his demeanor. He aspires to replicate him. If you have to select a pitcher to emulate, Clayton Kershaw is a good one as a professional baseball player and a humanitarian family man.

So what was the Dodger’s rationale for selecting Bruns?

“We thought he was the best high school left-handed pitcher in the draft,” Dodgers director of amateur scouting Billy Gasparino said in a videoconference call with reporters Sunday. “It’s power pitches, power body. Everything about power is what he’s about.

“He got basically a bad command-control rap this summer,” Gasparino said. “As he increased his velocity, I think he initially struggled to throw it in the zone. To the kid’s credit and one of the things we liked about him, he showed the ability to make adjustments and improve.”

“Maddux has a premier power pitch package that we think will play at the major league level in an impactful way,” Gasparino said in a statement. “His work ethic and ability to make adjustments are two traits we put extreme value on. We can’t wait to get Maddux in Dodger blue and start the process of him becoming a major league starting pitcher.”

Jim Callis said this of the pick on MLB.com:

“Bruns has huge upside, and he’s going to an organization that excels at getting the best out of its players. You don’t see a lot of high school lefties hitting 98 mph with their fastball, but he also has a mid-80s slider and can flash a plus curveball. Strike throwing has been a concern, but he looked better this spring.”

And this from Perfect Game:

Maddux Bruns is a 2021 LHP with a 6-2 210 lb. frame from Saraland, AL who attends Ums-Wright Prep. Strong athletic build, has filled out nicely over the last year, pretty mature physically. Compact arm action in back with a tight 3/4’s arm slot, fast arm coming through, stays balanced and above the rubber well from a high leg lift delivery, can get more drive out of his lower half, short stride out front. Raw stuff has jumped since last seen in October, fastball topped out at 97 mph and was consistently in the mid-’90s, works his fastball to both sides of the plate with heavy life down in the zone, flashes bat breaking late life. Has a tight spin on a slow curveball, will slow his arm at times on the pitch, also cuts his fastball effectively, and has definite slider potential. Showed feel for his changeup. Extremely impressive jump since last seen, flashes all the pitches and the ability to throw strikes. Good student, verbal commitment to Mississippi State. Named to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Of note, AC pointed this out to me as we exchanged a few emails during Sunday’s draft. Bruns, 19, is the second high school pitcher committed to attend Mississippi State whom the Dodgers have taken in the first round in the last four years. The first — J.T. Ginn — was selected 30th overall in 2018 and opted not to sign with the Dodgers.  Also like Ginn, he will become a sophomore eligible draft pick if he doesn’t sign this year.

The slot value for the 29th pick this year is $2,424,600. Gasparino said Bruns’ initials signs were “very positive,” which increased the organization’s comfort level in selecting him. It is expected that Bruns might sign for under slot giving the Dodgers a bit of freed up cash to sign later selections.

“We’ll see what happens,” said Bruns, who will be choosing between the reigning college champions and the reigning MLB champions. “I mean, I think I’m going to be a Dodger. But if things don’t work out, we’ll go to school. Whatever happens, happens. I think it’ll work out.”

LINK TO FINAL VIDEO