Michigan State recruit Joseph Dzierwa has ‘through the roof’ MLB potential
TONTOGANY, Ohio (BVM) – Baseball is a game of adjustments, even for the most gifted players who are blessed with the size, skills and athleticism to dominate the opposition.
As a tall, talented left-handed pitcher with a high-80s fastball, Joseph Dzierwa was able to routinely overpower batters early in his Otsego High School baseball career. But as is usually the case for all players in the game of adjustments, Dzierwa was forced to adapt after hitters began to figure out how to handle the hard-throwing lefty midway through his junior season.
That’s when Dzierwa became a pitcher.
“He went through a stretch of about three games where teams were starting to hit him a little bit and the next outing after that rough patch it was like something clicked,” Otsego head baseball coach Chase Welker said. “All of a sudden he went from being a thrower to really being a pitcher where he started to attack hitters’ weaknesses, change around his pitch sequence, and mess around with eye levels, inside-outside, and by the end of his junior year, he started to become a pitcher rather than just a thrower.”
Dzierwa was more than just a baseball player throughout his Otsego career. Not only did the three-sport standout play basketball for the Knights for three years, but he also played football for four and earned All-Ohio honors as the team’s starting quarterback. Dzierwa even drew Division I interest from multiple Mid-American Conference and Ivy League programs.
But baseball is Dzierwa’s first love and it’s the sport that will likely lead to a professional career. With that knowledge, Dzierwa decided to forgo his senior basketball season and fully focus on honing his craft this past winter. And that 100% commitment to baseball would lead to a dominant spring season for the 6-foot-7 southpaw.
“The growth he made this winter, and actually having an offseason and really trying to develop, I think it did him just a tremendous amount of good,” Welker said. “The results of that we could see this spring. He was just locked in from day one.”
Dzierwa allowed only two earned runs and recorded a minuscule 0.38 ERA with 70 strikeouts – an average of nearly two per inning – in 37.1 innings pitched in his final season with the Knights, a performance that showed he’s clearly ready for the next level. The only question is what level that will be: the pros or college. Dzierwa signed with Michigan State last fall, picking the Spartans over several other Power 5 programs.
But Dzierwa could soon have another decision to make. While he’s excited about the chance to join MSU, he might not make it to East Lansing. Numerous pro scouts were often on hand – Welker estimated sometimes between 15-20 – recording every pitch Dzierwa threw when he was on the bump for Otsego this past season and Prospects Live ranks him No. 181 among the top 400 MLB Draft prospects. If a big-league organization offers him enough money to turn pro straight out of high school, he may have to make the tough call to skip college.
“It’s exciting but it’s also stressful at times,” Dzierwa said. “Being an 18-year-old kid dealing with this is stressful but it’s a dream. I’ve always wanted to do it so either if it’s three or four years from now or this coming July, I think it would be really cool to achieve that dream.”
2022 LHP @DzierwaJoseph (@OKBaseball1) was his typical self, striking out 18, walking 0 while scattering just 4 hits.
📝 Athletic 6-7, 180-pound projectable southpaw.
🔥
FB: 87-89, 90T
CB: 70-73
CH: 75-76👀 Season Stats: 37.1 IP, 0.38 ERA, 70 K, 7 BB@ShooterHunt #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/vFEaaRqRcE
— PBR Ohio Scouting Coverage (@PBROhioScout) May 20, 2022
With his size, a high-80s fastball that has topped out at 92-93 mph, a big curveball and an effective changeup, all of which he throws with deception from a three-quarter arm slot, Dzierwa is one of the most projectable pitchers in his draft class. So whether it’s this summer or a few years down the road, a future in the pros seems likely. Especially when considering the former three-sport standout has probably only scratched the surface of his potential in baseball.
“I think I have a lot more room to improve,” Dzierwa said. “From being a three-sport athlete and this was my first year I actually concentrated on baseball, it’s cool to see how I’ve gotten better in a short amount of time.”
“I think a lot of scouts are looking at him and saying not necessarily what is he today but what can we turn him into in five years and that’s where they start to get really excited, to see what he could potentially grow into,” Welker said. “I think a lot of these scouts are saying if we can get him in our system, have him working solely on getting better at these things, his potential is just through the roof.”
