B/T: L/R Ht: 6’4 Wt: 215 LB
Age: December 17, 1999 (21 years old)
Acquired: Mets 2021 4th round draft pick (UCLA)
2021 Stats (St. Lucie): .195/.320/.276, 5 2B, 8 RBI, 2 SB
When the Mets amateur scouting department felt comfortable giving a sizeable slice of their bonus pool pie at $475,000 to UCLA Bruins 21 year old first-baseman, J.T. Schwartz, you might think that his surface triple-slash above in a tiny taste of full-season professional baseball after signing was not exactly what they had in mind.
But just a quick peek under the covers, and you’ll see fast evidence of one of the present skills that Schwartz established in his relatively short tenure as a Bruin: an advanced plate approach.
Against Low-A Florida State League pitching, Schwartz walked 13 times to only 12 strikeouts. Indeed, Schwartz accomplished the same feat during his breakout junior spring on campus, drawing 37 walks to only 28 strikeouts against good PAC-12 competition.
But the tall, lanky-framed first-baseman can do more than draw walks and make contact. He won the PAC-12 batting title last spring, slashing .396/.514/.628.
The Mets take first baseman J.T. Schwartz with their fourth round pick.
He had a 1.142 OPS and 37 walks compared to 28 strikeouts this year at UCLA.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) July 12, 2021
The knock on Schwartz, for now, is that he has not established plus game power, as he utilizes a swing geared for contact. He did hit eight homeruns and 12 doubles for the Bruins last spring in 164 at-bats, and his frame has room for added strength. There is reason here to project at least average raw power.
When you start with such a polished base of swing decision-making and bat-to-ball skills, there is plenty of room for Mets minor league instructors to help Schwartz tinker with his swing in order to unlock impact power.
On that front, the Mets growing analytics presence in their amateur draft process may have helped to buttress their scouts eyeball-reports:
https://twitter.com/mason_mcrae/status/1425207416476643330?s=20
That is what the MLB draft is all about: finding a skill-set already in place along with a realistic vision of skill or body projection that can yield an outcome not yet seen. The Mets amateur team clearly sees just that in J.T. Schwartz.
