Kyle BonaguraMay 7, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseCovers college football.Joined ESPN in 2014.Attended Washington State University.Follow on XMultiple Authors
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
“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.
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.
Kyle BonaguraMay 7, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseCovers college football.Joined ESPN in 2014.Attended Washington State University.Follow on XMultiple Authors
Mason Edwards is good at pitching. ⚔️All 1⃣2⃣ K’s from Mase’s outing tonight ✌️#FightOn x @MasonJEdwards pic.twitter.com/e3qkCmzxnw
Those numbers are the payoff of a development story years in the making.
Stankiewicz said it was clear early on that Edwards would get the ball on Friday nights.
“I was thinking, ‘OK, this guy’s really good or we’re really bad offensively.'”
CloseCovers college football.Joined ESPN in 2014.Attended Washington State University.Follow on X