Malone aims to deliver on high expectations in 2022

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Brennan Malone understands the stakes. He understands his career, thus far, has been more potential than results. He understands the importance of these next couple months, how they can shape the next couple of years. He understands it’s time to go.

“It’s time to turn on the jets,” Malone said on Saturday at Pirate City.

So far, those jets have been stuck in neutral. A brief examination of Malone’s stats and injuries contextualizes his anticipation.

Malone, who was acquired in a trade with the D-backs along with top prospect Liover Peguero for outfielder Starling Marte in 2020, has only thrown 22 professional innings in the three seasons of his career. Part of that is due to the 2020 Minor League campaign being canceled, part is due to a right lat injury that sidelined him for most of last season. His last full-ish year, then, came when he could go to the senior prom.

With only 16 appearances (eight starts) to his name, Malone has seldom had the chance to get comfortable, to showcase his stuff. His career numbers -- 4.09 ERA, 9.82 K/9, 6.14 BB/9 -- can’t be taken at face value. The sample is just too small.

Regarding last season, Malone said he felt the weight of expectations. He knew the rankings. He wanted to impress. He began at Low-A Bradenton. Due to both injury and inconsistency, Malone finished the year in Rookie ball. His confidence, understandably, ebbed.

And while still just 21 years old, the allure of youth and potential has slowly begun to wane. At one point, MLB Pipeline ranked Malone as the ninth-best prospect in the Pirates system. In the most recent rankings, though, he’s down to 21st. At FanGraphs, Malone is down to 56th. A good season, a healthy season, a breakout season, though, can raise that stock back up again.

“Of course, you can’t block it out,” Malone said. “You learn from it, and you move on.”

To ensure he does learn and does move on, Malone has been in the lab -- working, tinkering. Of his mechanics, Malone said his biggest points of emphasis were on his momentum coming off the rubber, as well as allowing his arm to remain loose.

“Because that was a big thing, I would tense up and try to muscle up. A big thing is keeping my arm loose and whippy. The velocity is gonna be there,” Malone said.

Malone's offseason work wasn’t done in isolation. He spent time this offseason working at X2 Baseball, a training facility that recently opened a second location in North Carolina. Malone was unfamiliar with the environment, having no prior experience working at a facility. That space, though -- one in which he worked with fellow Minor Leaguers -- was conducive to growth.

Along with spending time at the facility, Malone went down the rabbit hole of Vic Black’s “The Arm Doc” Instagram page, scouring for morsels of information in the pursuit of improvement. The goal of this work, this research, of course, is so Malone can reaffirm why pundits held him in such high regard.

“This is a big season for me just to show ‘em what I got,” Malone said.

Even with little game action, Malone’s appeal as a starter is easy to detect.

His fastball sits in the mid 90s -- “[it] has a bit more ride to it and sink.” He complements it with a slider (“a bit harder this year”) a changeup (“I’ve really found a comfort with that”) and a curveball (“I’m really feeling it with that pitch”). Regarding the latter, Malone recently re-tweeted a video in which his curveball clocked in at 3035 RPMs. Malone admitted that he doesn’t know his average spin rate on that pitch, but the 3K club is a good place to reside.

“I haven’t always been ... a high-spin guy,” Malone said. “Nothing above average or anything. I just feel like my mechanics and the whippy arm, that combination, helped a lot of stuff.”

The coming months will determine whether the work, the tweaks, the hunger translates when Malone takes the mound again. A good season would be a full one. A great season would have success to match.

“It’s really time to go now,” Malone said. “I feel like I’ve put in the work in the offseason to prove it this year.”

Or, in Malone’s words, it’s time to turn on the jets.