The New York Mets continued the team’s pitcher-heavy draft with the selection of Northwestern State’s Levi David 262nd overall in the ninth round.
The former 50-meter freestyle swimming state champion is listed at six-foot-five, and 220-pounds.
In 61 innings pitched this season, the left-hander totaled 104 strikeouts and 46 walks. He had two 12 strikeout performances and a 14 strikeout outing on May 8 against McNeese. Overall, he put together a 4.43 ERA.
David relies on a strong curveball which has been regarded as one of the best in the entire 2021 MLB Draft.
From MLB Pipeline:
“He has one of the best curveballs in the 2021 Draft. He had a 72 percent swing-and-miss rate on his breaking ball and hitters went just 5-for-98 with 80 strikeouts against it, the main reason he ranked third in NCAA Division I in whiff rate (15.3 per nine innings).”
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His fastball on the other hand has a lot of juice behind it but has led to him running into issues with walks. As mentioned above, David issued 46 walks in 61.0 innings.
“He also can run his fastball up to 99 mph and uses his 6-foot-5 frame to create downhill plane to compensate for a lack of life, though he often dials it back to 92-95 in order to try to throw strikes.”
He does not have much of a third pitch, so given his two-pitch repertoire it seems he projects out as a possible relief pitcher down the road.
The final pick of the day came at 292nd overall in the tenth round when the team selected another college arm in Clemson University’s Keyshawn Askew. While at Clemson, Askew appeared as both a starter and a reliever. It is also worth noting, he has a quirky delivery/wind-up that can be best described as a low-to-mid ¾’s arm slot.
From Perfect Game:
“High leg lift delivery, low to mid 3/4’s arm slot, arm is loose and quick coming through, pretty clean delivery mechanics.”
The six-foot-four, 190-pound left-hander pitched 114 2/3 innings across three seasons with the Tigers. In doing so, he racked up 117 strikeouts and walked 37. During this past season, he did struggle down the stretch. In his last four appearances, he allowed 19 earned runs over only 14 2/3 innings which was good for a 12.04 ERA.
With their 10th round pick, the Mets have drafted left-hander Keyshawn Askew from Clemson.
He had 69 strikeouts in 57 innings this season.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) July 12, 2021
However, before that stretch of poor play, he started the season with a 6 2/3 inning scoreless streak and an ERA of 1.88 over his first four starts (19 2/3 innings pitched).
As mentioned above, Askew pitched as both a starter and out of the bullpen during his college career. His fastball only sits in the high-80s which features good sinking movement. He compliments this fastball with a good changeup and a sweeping curveball that does still need some more development. Given his strikeout ratio, he seems to profile as a reliever who will focus on getting soft contact.
