The Mets front office/scouting department has been ultra busy on Monday, as they ended up making 16 picks. In this article we will break down their 14th, 15th, and 16th round draft choices:

14th RD – James Smith IV – Two-Way Player

James Smith IV, 22, was a 4th-year junior at the University of Memphis this past season, where he played the outfield and also pitched. He transferred there from Northwest Mississippi CC. He bats and pitches from the right side. He is also a big player (6’5”, 185)

His season was derailed this year as he broke his leg during an outfield collision in early April. Even though his season ended abruptly due to injury, he did have somewhat of a decent sample size at the NCAA Division I level. In 112 at-bats, he put up a slash line of .277/.328/.464/.792 while hitting 4 homers and 12 extra-base hits.

On the pitching side, he has shown some flashes, as he sat 93-95 while topping at 99, with “good metrics” on his fastball according to MLB pipeline, before his injury, while also hurling a mid-80s slider. He did appear in 3 games, starting 1 of the three games, and posted an ERA of 7.20 in 5.0 innings.

15th RD – Conner Ware – Pitcher

Connor Ware, who just like the Mets’ previous draft pick, started his collegiate career at a junior college before transferring to a D1 school. Ware, 21 comes in at 6”4” 221 pounds, and was a part of the LSU Tigers national championship squad this past season.

The young southpaw has proven to have some great stuff, as his fastball gets up to 96 MPH while also going to his main secondary, an upper-70s curveball that will exceed 3,000 RPM, and he also throws gets some sliders and change-ups.

He tossed 21.1 innings in 16 appearances (6 GS), posting a 5.48 ERA while striking out 23 and walking 18, proving that control was an issue, which the Mets will have to work on with him.

He had some back issues in 2023 that made him miss some time, but those don’t seem to be too much of an issue now.

16th RD – Zack Mack – Pitcher

For the third straight pick, now the Mets have selected a pitcher who started their collegiate career at a junior college but moved to a Division I. Mack, a 4th-year junior like the last two, is 22 years old but is a powerhouse at 6”5, 240.

Mack was a “Swiss Army knife” for Loyola Marymount this past season, doing anything his team needed, starting, closing, relieving, and back to starting again. But it wasn’t an easy path for Mack as he tore his UCL back in 2022, requiring Tommy John Surgery. He pitched 3 years at Sac-Jacinto, then transferred to Loyola, where he broke out this past season.

His stuff is solid, as his arsenal has a fastball, gyro slider, cutter, and splitter, but could use some tweaks to fully unleash his potential which is exactly what the pitching lab is for. His stats stood out, though, throwing 49 innings, striking out 61, and posting a 3.69 ERA.

A great story that shows potential to grow and become a solid arm in the system.