Carmen Alexander Mlodzinski (“ma-JINSK-ee”)...Is a 2017 graduate of Hilton Head (S.C.) High School, where he was the state’s 4A Player of the Year in 2017...Attended the University of South Carolina (2018-20), where he pitched 81.2 innings across his three seasons...Was signed by Pirates scout Cam Murphy.
2025
Made his first career Opening Day roster and began the season as a starter...Allowed four runs over 3.2 innings in his season debut on 3/31 at Tampa Bay...Earned his first Major League win as a starter after allowing one run and striking out six batters over 5.0 innings on 4/7 vs. St. Louis...Allowed four runs in 3.1 innings on 5/17 at Philadelphia, his final start during his first stint with Pittsburgh...Went 1-4 with a 5.67 ERA (39.2 IP/25 ER) in his first nine starts from 3/31- 5/17...Was optioned to Indianapolis on 5/21...Struck out a career-high 10 batters over his 6.0 scoreless innings (career high at any level) of work on 5/23 at Toledo...Made two more starts with the Indians on 5/29 vs. Nashville (4.2ip/0r) and 6/4 at Memphis (5.0 IP/2 ER) before being recalled by the Pirates, where he remained for the rest of the season, on 6/11...Tossed 2.0 scoreless innings on 6/13 at Chicago (NL)...Pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief (career high in MLB) on 6/29 vs. New York (NL)...Had a 1.80 ERA (15.0 IP/3 ER), 16 strikeouts and a 0.87 WHIP in six July appearances, joining Miami’s Tyler Phillips (15.1 IP, 0.59 ERA) and Colorado’s Jimmy Herget (15.0 IP, 2.40 ERA) as the only Major League relievers to toss at least 15.0 innings during the month...Posted a 14.1-inning scoreless streak from 7/19-8/9...Returned to the starting rotation and allowed one unearned run on one hit over 4.0 innings on 8/17 at Chicago (NL)...Struck out five batters in relief on 8/23 vs. Colorado...Made two more starts on 8/27 at St. Louis (3.0 IP/1 ER) and 9/2 vs. Los Angeles-NL (2.0 IP/1 ER)...Had another five-strikeout performance in relief on 9/16 vs. Chicago (NL)...Did not allow a run over his final five appearances (15.0 IP) from 9/10-25...Had a 1.80 ERA (15.0 IP/3 ER) and 15 strikeouts in seven September outings (one start)...Went 1-4 with a 4.99 ERA (48.2 IP/27 ER) in 12 starts and 4-4 with a 2.15 ERA (50.1 IP/12 ER) in 22 relief appearances...His 2.15 ERA out of the bullpen ranked 10th in the National League among relievers with at least 50.0 innings pitched...His 1.63 ERA (55.1 IP/10 ER) across his 23 appearances (three starts) from 6/21 through the conclusion of the regular season was the best among Major League pitchers with at least 50.0 innings pitched during that span.
2024
Began season on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation...Began a rehab assignment with Bradenton on 4/5...Had rehab transferred to Indianapolis on 4/9...Was returned from rehab, reinstated from the I.L. and optioned to Indianapolis on 4/10...Went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA (17.1ip/13er) in 13 games (including two on rehab) before being recalled on 5/15...Made his season debut with the Pirates on 5/17 at Chicago (NL) and gave up two runs in 1.2ip (threw a career-high 48 pitches)…Started the game on 6/8 vs. Minnesota and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings...Retired all five betters he faced in relief on 6/16 at Colorado and picked up his first win of the season...Made six straight scoreless outings from 6/25 thru 7/12 (8.1ip)…Was placed on the 15- day injured list on 7/30 with a right shoulder strain...Made three rehab appearances (3.1ip/3er) with Indy between 8/20- 25 before being returned from rehab and reinstated from the I.L. on 8/27...Posted a 1.98 ERA (13.2ip/3er) over his final 12 appearances with the Pirates, beginning on 9/3...Won three games in his 12 outings in September...Went 0-1 with a 1.42 ERA (6.1ip/1er) in four games while serving as the “opener”.
2023
Began season in the bullpen with Indianapolis...Went 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA (10.2ip/3er) and 14 strikeouts in eight appearances during the month of May…Picked up his first professional save on 6/13 at Iowa… Was scored upon just once in eight games from 5/14 thru 6/13 (10.2ip/1er)…Posted a 3.16 ERA (25.2ip/9er) and 31 strikeouts in 19 relief appearances thru 6/13…Was selected to the Major League roster on 6/16…Made his Major League debut on 6/16 at Milwaukee; struck out two batters and gave up one run in 1.1ip…Retired all four batters he faced on 6/18 at Milwaukee…Pitched the final 2.0 scoreless innings in the 8-7 walk-off win vs. Milwaukee on 6/30 and won his first Major League game…Made his first big league start on 7/9 at Arizona and was charged with one unearned run in 1.1ip (29 pitches)…Struck out three batters while pitching 1.2 scoreless frames on 7/22 at Los Angeles (AL)…Threw just one pitch on 7/28 vs. Philadelphia; entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs and induced Bryce Harper to line out to end the inning…Posted a 0.82 ERA (11.0ip/1er) and .158 batting average against (6-for-38) in 10 games during the month of July…Was placed on the 15- day injured list on 8/12 (retro to 8/10) with right elbow soreness…Began a rehab assignment with Indianapolis on 8/29; allowed an unearned run in 1.0ip that night at Buffalo…Returned from rehab and was reinstated from the I.L. on 9/1; tossed a scoreless inning that night at St. Louis… Made six straight scoreless appearances - and five straight hitless outings - from 9/12-22 (5.1ip)…Earned his first Major League save on 9/23 at Cincinnati in Pittsburgh’s historic 13-12 comeback win…Posted a 1.88 ERA (24.0ip/5er) over his last 24 appearances, dating back to 7/18…Made a team-high 14 appearances during the month of September/ October and posted a 2.19 ERA (12.1ip/3er).
2022
Attended spring training as a non-roster invitee before going on to spend the entire season with Double-A Altoona…Finished the season tied for 11th among Pirates Minor Leaguers in strikeouts along with Mike Burrows…Was one of eight Pirates Minor Leaguers to throw 100 innings and one of three members of Altoona’s pitching staff with at least 100 strikeouts along with Kyle Nicolas and Luis Ortiz…Allowed two earned runs or fewer in 18 of his 27 outings…Was Altoona’s Opening Day starter on 4/8 vs. Harrisburg, suffering the loss while allowing five runs in 3.1 innings…Was placed on the injured list (shoulder) on 5/12 (retro to 5/11) before returning to action on 5/19… Allowed one run or fewer in five of his eight starts from 4/28 to 6/11, posting a 3.18 ERA (31.0ip/11er) during the stretch…Made the shortest start of his career (0.2ip) on 6/17 vs. Erie, throwing 36 pitches (23 strikes)…Matched the longest start of his career with 6.0 innings on 6/29 vs. Harrisburg while earning his first win of the season (also matched his career-high with eight strikeouts)…Posted a 2.81 ERA (25.2ip/8er) over six appearances (five starts) from 6/5 to 7/6.
2021
Entered season ranked by MLB Pipeline as Pittsburgh’s 10th-best prospect...Began season with High-A Greensboro, where he had a 1.72 ERA (31.1ip/6er), a .186 batting average against and a 0.96 WHIP after his first seven starts...Struck out four batters while not allowing a hit in 3.0 scoreless innings in his professional debut on 5/9 vs. Hickory...Struck out eight batters over 5.0 scoreless innings while earning his first career win on 5/30 vs. Wilmington...Lowered his ERA to 0.55 (16.1ip/1er) after tossing 5.0 scoreless innings on 6/6 vs. Winston-Salem... Recorded second and final win on 6/26 vs. Greenville (6.0ip/1er)...Was placed on the seven-day injured list on 7/12 due to right shoulder soreness...Was activated from the injured list on 8/14 and worked 2.0 scoreless innings in his start on 8/15 vs. Winston-Salem (game 1)... Was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on 9/30...Made first professional relief appearance and allowed two runs (1er) in his final outing on 10/3 vs. Nashville...Struck out in lone plate appearance on 10/3 vs. Nashville...Went 1-0 with one save and a 4.91 ERA (11.0ip/6er) in seven relief appearances for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League.
