Growing up hometown proud, knowing your roots, and learning to celebrate success with those who invested so much in you is a gift that is given to young men and women who grow up in places like Wauconda Illinois. It’s a gift that was given to 6’3 hard-throwing right-hander, Kevin Malisheski, early in his life, and he couldn’t be more thankful and proud to give back.

Yeah, Wauconda is a small town about an hour outside of Chicago and it’s kind of like everybody knows everybody type of town. I love it there, I love going back, and I went back for the All-Star break, and it was good to be back. I’m proud to be from Wauconda and I have a lot of great memories growing up.

Small Town, Big Dreams

Although “Malo”, as he is called, may have grown up in a small town, he’s always had big dreams and visioned himself as a Division 1 quarterback as a kid. During his Senior year as a Bulldog at Wauconda High, he was working his way towards that goal as he threw for 1668 yards, 18 passing touchdowns, and ran for another 323 on the gridiron. Everything was falling into place until the last game of his Senior year when he tore both his ACL and his meniscus in the playoffs, his last game as a Bulldog, and was forced to have reconstructive surgery on his knee. It was a devastating blow, because, not only did it end his football career, but it also forced him to miss his Senior year of baseball as well. That is until it didn’t!

Almost 6 months after having reconstructive knee surgery, Malo, a name that has been passed down from his dad Mike, his uncle Mark, and his two aunts Debbie and Teri, found himself back on the diamond and pitching again for his High School club. It was an incredible show of work, toughness, and dedication, all traits inherited from a childhood in a small town and a family that taught him values.

You know, looking back, I was an outfielder too, but, I wasn’t able to move very well after my knee surgery, so pitching was really my only way to get on the field. Everything went very smoothly during my rehab process, which I’m very grateful for, and I think it was just 6 months on the dot before I got to pitch a couple times in relief, then I started in a playoff game and had some success with a couple scouts there. I’m really grateful that everything went my way in the rehab process.

College Decision

Malisheski was on his way to a tournament in Indiana the summer before his Senior year when things became clear as to what his next move would be. He had just finished visiting Illinois State which was offering over 70%, and he also had an offer from Ball State that was close to 100%. Although his decision was tough, Malo knew what he wanted to do, and made his intentions clear that he wanted to be a college pitcher, and for Illinois State. Malisheski went as far as enrolling in a summer class and was on the Redbirds campus when he got the news he was being drafted by the Dodgers. Getting drafted is a dream, so when he was taken in the 38th round of the 2016 draft, it was an easy decision, especially considering that he was drafted by the Dodgers, such an iconic organization.

I still had small hopes that I could play football at Illinois State, and they’re a good DII school, and I was planning on trying out. I had a couple other offers in the MAC and on the East Coast, but I wanted to stay close to home and Illinois State is in a good Conference, the Missouri Valley, so it was a no-brainer for me when I thought it through. I actually wasn’t planning on signing, but then a couple kids didn’t sign that opened the door for me to get drafted. I was still a little unsure and I was actually at Illinois State taking summer classes when I was drafted, and I thought things through with my parents and my friends and ultimately pulled the trigger, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

Malo as a Dodger

Malisheski spent all of 2016 and 2017 in the Arizona League playing rookie ball before being promoted to Ogden in 2018. He then started 2019 in Ogden before getting moved to Great Lakes, then Rancho Cucamonga where he finished 2019. After the 2020 Minor League season was canceled, he started 2021 back in Great Lakes after the Dodgers switched them to be the High A affiliate. He spent the entirety of 2021 with Great Lakes, then started this year with the Loons before being promoted to AA Tulsa on June 28th. He was actually assigned to OKC and was going to pitch a game for them before coming back down to Tulsa, but flight issues in Dallas interfered and he never made it to OKC and has been with Tulsa ever since.

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Malisheski is a big-bodied power pitcher and the exact type of person the Dodgers love to bring into their system and develop. He likes riding the 4 seam up in the zone and pairs that with a slider and a change up.

Here is a video used to illustrate how Malo rides the fastball up, but then is also able to carry the pitch at the bottom of the zone to keep it in the strike zone.

Malo also has a good slider and has an advanced understanding of how to use location and movement to increase his “effective velocity” to make timing his pitches difficult. For instance, on a 94-95 mph fastball, which is where he typically sits, if it’s on the inner half the hitter has to time 98-100 to be on time. On vice versa, if that same 94-96 mph fastball is on the outer half, the hitter has to time 90-92 to be on time. That’s why hitters have a tendency to be late on inside fastballs, because their “effective velocities” are higher, thus giving them less reaction time. It’s also why hitters are more often early on outside fastballs because their “effective velocities” are lower. thus forcing the hitter to have to wait longer. It’s also why pitchers like Malo are so hard to time up because they use location and movement to increase or decrease the “effective timing” and/or reaction time of a hitter for them to be on time. Watch how, in this video, hitters are late on his inside fastball, then watch the last fastball in the video and you’ll see the hitter be early on a fastball that is located on the outer half.

Moving Forward

Malo has been with the Dodgers since 2016, 7 years in total, and has reached AA at the age of 24, so he’s on a pretty typical timeline for Dodgers prospects in terms of age and placement. Trust me when I say that he is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from LA, and the path from where he’s at now to LA is much faster than the snail’s pace of getting to AA in the first place.  For instance, this time last year, Andre Jackson had just been promoted to AAA, then made his MLB debut a couple of days later. Similarly, Ryan Pepiot got moved to AAA at this exact same time last year and has multiple starts with LA. Michael Grove was in AA for the entirety of 2021 and made his MLB debut this year. And, they are starting pitchers, a spot that has many fewer options than the bullpen does. Of all of the transactions the Dodgers make, which is more than any other club, many, if not most, are to bring in fresh arms to piece together the bullpen.

Malo has all the physical tools, has shown to be motivated and tough, has small-town values and character, and will not be out-worked. Guys like him just have to keep grinding, they have to keep putting themselves in favorable positions, then they have to wait and be patient, something that is easier said than done when you’re this close to reaching your dream.

Good luck Kevin, I will be rooting for you each step of the way, and it was a pleasure to get to meet you and has been an honor to tell your story. To everyone who helped make this young man who he is, I wanted to say, Job Well Done!