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Mars' Will Bednar was 8-0 last year with 120 strikeouts in 66 innings, but has pitched only two innings this season because of a shoulder issue.
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Will Bednar, MLB draft prospect at Mars, deals with shoulder issue

Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette

Will Bednar, MLB draft prospect at Mars, deals with shoulder issue

Will Bednar has proven to be one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in WPIAL baseball history, with his fastball reaching 95 mph at times last season. That speed is the main reason Bednar, a senior pitcher at Mars High School, is projected to be possibly picked in the top 10 rounds of June’s Major League Baseball draft.

But the operative word for Bednar right now is slow, as in taking it easy on the road to recovery and pitching again.

“We definitely don’t want to rush him back,” said Andy Bednar, Will’s father and Mars High’s coach.

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Will Bednar, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound strong-armed right-hander, has pitched only two innings so far this season and that was back in late March. Things just didn’t feel right in his throwing shoulder that day.

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“It just felt a little fatigued,” Will Bednar said. “I knew it probably wasn’t a good thing.”

Will Bednar had an MRI on his shoulder. No rotator cuff problem. No damage to the labrum. Bednar was diagnosed with some inflammation and a little tendinitis.

Shoulder problems in a high school senior can scare off major-league teams. But Andy Bednar said the shoulder fatigue is a minor thing that shouldn’t keep scouts away.

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“We’ve gotten calls from scouts, asking, ‘When is he going to throw?’” he said. “If Will is in a position to be drafted, teams are definitely going to want to see all the medical reports. I think the scouts would really need to see him pitch in May. But the fact that he showed fairly well last summer and fall will help him. I just think they need to see, I guess, a couple outings in May to maybe help them make a decision.”

Bednar has gone through some physical therapy sessions for his shoulder. He plans to start throwing off a mound later this week and hopes to pitch in a game possibly next week.

Both Will and his father said what probably caused some problems was throwing too hard, too early. Some scouts came to watch Bednar throw in some indoor workouts in the winter months.

“I don’t regret throwing,” Bednar said. “I think I kind of just amped-up a little too quickly and threw a lot. That kind of pushed me a little too far.”

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Andy Bednar added, “He threw for a lot of scouts in February and March. When you have major-league scouts there with radar guns, as an 18-year-old kid, you’re not going to hold back.”

Bednar was clocked at 95 mph in a few games last year. It is practically unheard of for a WPIAL pitcher to throw in the mid 90s. In his two innings of work in March, Bednar was clocked from 91 to 94 in the first inning.

As a junior last year, Bednar had an 8-0 record for Mars, with a 0.64 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 66 innings. He allowed only 39 hits and made the Post-Gazette’s 10-player All-Area team.

“He never had pain in the shoulder. It’s just a matter of building the strength back up,” Andy Bednar said. “Hopefully, he’s good to go for the second go-round of section play. Our section is going to be a dogfight.”

Mars played in the WPIAL Class 5A championship the past two seasons and the Planets are 6-3 overall this year and 1-1 in Section 2. The section is highly competitive with Hampton, Moon, Shaler, South Fayette and defending WPIAL champ North Hills.

“I’ll be back to 100 percent again,” Will Bednar said. “Time will tell when that is, but I’ll continue to work hard until I’m back. But honestly, I think we’re doing well right now. I’m liking what we’re doing. But I want to get back.”

Bednar has signed with Mississippi State. So if the draft doesn’t work out …

“One of the things we’ve talked to Will about is he can’t go wrong with the two options he has,” Andy Bednar said. “We had a chance to see Mississippi State play LSU a couple weeks ago and they were getting 12-13,000 fans. The atmosphere was electric. So Mississippi State is not a bad option B.”

While Will Bednar hopes to get back pitching for his high school team, his brother, David, is in his first season pitching Class AA minor-league baseball in the San Diego Padres system. David Bednar is a right-handed relief pitcher for the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Texas League. David had one bad outing recently where he gave up four earned runs in one inning. Besides that forgettable performance, he has pitched 6⅓ innings in four other appearances without allowing an earned run, striking out 10 and giving up only two hits.

Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh

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First Published: April 15, 2019, 6:14 p.m.

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Mars' Will Bednar was 8-0 last year with 120 strikeouts in 66 innings, but has pitched only two innings this season because of a shoulder issue.  (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)
Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette
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