Nick Zwack, LHP
B/T: L/L Ht: 6’3 Wt: 230 LBS
Age: August 1, 1998 (23 years old)
Acquired: 2021 Mets 17th round draft pick (Xavier University)
2021 Stats (FCL Mets): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 G, 7.0 IP, 1.143 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, 16.7 K/9
The fun part of this series looking at all 19 of the Mets signed picks from the 2021 draft is to try and find through-lines and motifs to the madness. Especially when you get down into these later picks, such as the selection of covid-senior Nick Zwack out of Xavier in the 17th round, it does almost seem like madness to draw conclusions, sitting here on the outside.
Zwack does check some of the same boxes that we know Mets evaluators especially value. Take a look at Zwack’s full developmental timeline as an amateur, and I think you’ll get a peek into the process that allows a scouting department to find real value picking smaller school seniors in the late rounds.
One thing we know about Tommy Tanous and Marc Tramuta, the long-time heads of the Mets amateur scouting operations, is that they love dual or multi-sport athletes. Zwack played football and hockey in addition to baseball through his sophmore year at Xavier and then still had offers to play Division 1 hockey when he decided at a late age to devote his entire focus to the game of baseball.
But that checks a big box right there. Nick Zwack is an athlete to the core.
The next thing that stands up to a trend in this series of Mets arms taken in the later rounds is that Zwack started out his amateur career at Xavier with his share of struggles both in hitability, velocity and control. He turned a late corner in the Cape Cod league after his decision to focus on baseball.
There, Zwack made a mechanical adjustment and saw his performance take off striking out 28 in 23.0 innings the next spring at Xavier pitching to a 2.31 ERA. He then backed it up with a solid 3.15 ERA in 80.0 innings as a covid-senior in 2021, striking out 75.
The Mets will definitely look at later-blooming small school, older arms in these later rounds, but they aren’t going to make a quick judgement on surface stats alone of course. Another feature that Zwack offers that we know Mets evaluators specifically look for, is his mound operation.
Just like Trey McLoughlin, 10th round selection Keyshawn Askew and 14th round selection Nathan Lavender who we featured earlier in this series, Zwack’s delivery features an easy-to-repeat, balanced motion with a clean arm-stroke. Mets scouts hone in on how each athlete moves, as they know it goes a long way in being able to project their likely ceilings in terms of command and velocity.
Additionally, just like all three of the young men just aforementioned, Zwack also shows solid ability to create spin on both his fastball and his slider. Take a look below. Note how Zwack can be seen both front-dooring and back footing his slider to right-handed batters.
https://twitter.com/XavierBASE/status/1395794015191195651?s=20
So in total, Zwack is a 23 year old left-hander who missed a ton of bats in his first taste of rookie ball last summer after signing. He possesses a low 90’s fastball and low 80’s slider that have great utility when located in competitive spots. He has the delivery and late-blooming traits to hopefully continue his progress as a pro, both in honing better command and perhaps even more velocity. Could he be an eventual diamond in the rough? I bet the Mets think so, and I think we’re about to find out.
