Mason Edwards: From Late Recruit to MLB Draft Prospect

How USC pitcher Mason Edwards became a potential first-round draft pick

- Kyle Bonagura May 7, 2026, 07:00 AM ET Close Covers college football. - Joined ESPN in 2014. - Attended Washington State University. Follow on X Multiple Authors - - Email - Print Open Extended Reactions

IN SUMMER 2021 , Josh Goossen-Brown -- now USC baseball's director of player development -- was coaching at a junior college in Los Angeles when a goofy, left-handed pitcher came looking for lessons. The kid had just finished his sophomore year of high school and was determined to get better, but with a fastball in the mid-70s, he didn't profile as a surefire college recruit, let alone a star at the next level.

Five years later, that kid -- USC junior pitcher Mason Edwards -- is nearly unrecognizable, having developed into one of the most dominant pitchers in college baseball and a likely first-round Major League Baseball draft pick .

"When I start hearing projections for the draft and everything, I'm just like, 'Damn, it's pretty surreal just to think about how it started, where he's been and what he's accomplished,'" Goossen-Brown said.

Edwards' rise has been anything but conventional. He wasn't a showcase regular and didn't interest top schools until late in high school. In his first two seasons at USC, he flashed potential without sustaining it. Last summer, he turned down the opportunity to play in the Cape Cod League to train at home, and the results have been better than imagined. Through 12 starts, Edwards is 7-0 with a 1.74 ERA and leads the nation in strikeouts (132 in 72⅓ innings). Last week, he set the Big Ten single-season strikeout record with 101 in conference play.

Those numbers are the payoff of a development story years in the making.

As his velocity climbed out of the 70s going into his junior year of high school, Edwards was confident he had a future in baseball. There is always a need for left-handed pitching.

"I knew I kind of had a golden ticket in my hand in high school," he said. "I was like, 'What if I work hard and make something of this?'"

So, he did. And with that work came the results. His velo ticked up from 82-83 early in his junior year to 87-88 at the end. The most significant milestone came that summer during a bullpen session with Goossen-Brown. With a camera rolling, he hit 90 mph for the first time.

This was somewhat late in the recruiting game for a player going into their senior year, but word traveled quickly. After footage of his bullpen session was posted on social media, Edwards said he heard from about six schools that day. Two and a half weeks after he received his first scholarship offer, Edwards decided to stay close to home and committed to USC.

"Left-handed arm -- that's always a valuable commodity," said USC coach Andy Stankiewicz. "It wasn't overpowering at the time, but you could see the strength building. It was projectable."

The 2024 and 2025 seasons were an adventure for USC. With their stadium undergoing significant renovations, the Trojans played their home games nearly 50 miles away, in Orange County. The team would finish classes Thursday, bus to Irvine, practice, then stay near the baseball complex for the weekend. Last season, that home travel came on top of the team's move to the Big Ten, which made for a grueling, nomadic schedule.

As a freshman, Edwards finished with a 7.88 ERA in 37⅔ innings, but he looks back at that season now as an important part of his maturity as a pitcher.

"My freshman year was a big roller coaster," he said. "I'd go out and flash really good stuff, have a really good outing, and then the next time I'd go and just have a yes-hitter and just not really perform at my best."

The breakthrough, he said, came that summer in Bend, Oregon. Playing for the Bend Elks of the West Coast League, Edwards said the carefree atmosphere of summer ball was an environment that made a big difference. After sitting at 89-91 that year for USC, Edwards' velocity jumped to 94-95 in some outings that summer, and he gave up just two earned runs in 22 innings.

The progress carried into his sophomore season, but it still wasn't linear. Edwards missed a few weeks because of a minor arm issue and continued to move between roles, at times starting and at others coming out of the bullpen. When he was on, the swing-and-miss ability was obvious.

He finished the year with a 3.86 ERA and showed enough late in the season to earn a spot in the weekend rotation.

That realization shaped one of the most important decisions of his career. Rather than spend the summer chasing innings -- and exposure -- in the Cape Cod League, Edwards stayed home. The focus shifted from performance to development: building strength, refining his delivery and establishing a routine. In the fall, the results were night and day.

Stankiewicz said it was clear early on that Edwards would get the ball on Friday nights.

"Every time we had an intersquad, we couldn't hit him," Stankiewicz said. "And usually the first couple of times out, your offense starts to figure out their teammate a little bit. But we were five, six scrimmages in and we still couldn't hit him.

"I was thinking, 'OK, this guy's really good or we're really bad offensively.'"

> Mason Edwards is good at pitching. ⚔️ All 1⃣2⃣ K's from Mase's outing tonight ✌️ #FightOn x @MasonJEdwards pic.twitter.com/e3qkCmzxnw — USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) March 21, 2026

When the season started, opposing hitters had the same problem. Edwards didn't allow an earned run over his first four starts and allowed just three over his first seven. The improved velocity has been helpful, but the curveball -- two different types of curveballs, really -- is the best pitch in his repertoire.

"He just learned how to command it better, and he can throw it for a strike when he needs to," Stankiewicz. "Last couple years prior, it was there, but it wasn't a consistent pitch. It was in the zone, out of the zone, in the zone, out of the zone."

Now, he's using it effectively against righties and lefties, along with an improving change-up that has MLB scouts excited.

"I think as I get closer to July and as the draft gets closer, I kind of just have to push it down for a little bit and just keep it a little bit in the other room just because I don't want to get too far ahead of myself," Edwards said.

The Trojans haven't made a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, for the Men's College World Series since 2001, but there is internal belief that could soon change. With two series left in the regular season -- beginning Thursday with a home series against Nevada -- USC (37-12) is No. 18 in the latest D1Baseball top-25 poll and is 28-1 at home.

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_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/48687844/2026-college-baseball-mason-edwards-usc-pitcher-mlb-draft)._