Nazier Mule

Mule has been famous from an early age, standing out for his athleticism at shortstop, raw power and outstanding arm strength. As he enters his draft year, Mule has the talent to play both ways in college at Miami, but his professional future looks brighter on the mound. He has reached 100 mph, even more remarkable given that he will be 17 until October. This spring, Mule pitched more in the 92-96 mph range, then after an April start in which he threw more than 100 pitches, he felt soreness in his arm and hasn’t pitched since, though he has still been hitting and playing first base at times. When Mule was pitching, multiple scouts noted he was often pitching backwards, throwing more breaking balls than fastballs. Over the summer, Mule’s slider was often fringy to below-average, but some scouts who saw him this spring said he snapped off some better sliders and was showing more feel for his changeup. Some of them also thought that, while he wasn’t throwing as hard as they had seen in the past, he was showing more pitchability than he had before when he was more of a thrower than a pitcher, though others noted times where he lost his control. Mule’s youth, athleticism and raw arm strength will appeal to some teams, while others view him as a high-risk prep arm.