With the 111th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, the New York Mets select J.T. Schwartz. A 6’4”, 21-year-old first baseman from UCLA.
Schwartz has been on scouts radar since 2018, being featured on Baseball America’s top 500 high school prospects. In 2019 he redshirted at UCLA and had his 2020 season cut short due to the global pandemic. With that being said, Schwartz made up for lost time in 2021 by slashing .405/.528/.635 with eight home runs and 45 RBIs.
“Schwartz is a superb contact hitter who projects to hit for a high average. He makes an elite amount of contact on pitches in the strike zone and doesn’t chase out of the zone. He had significantly more walks (35) than strikeouts in the regular season (22) and projects to be at least an above-average hitter. Schwartz looks the part of a power hitter at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, but his swing and approach are geared for contact.”
Schwartz isn’t your prototypical pull-side power-hitting lefty first baseman. He hits what’s he’s given and is able to hit for power to all fields.
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 most impressive part about Schwartz’s game is his ability to put the ball in play and limit his strikeouts. He has a significant knowledge of the strike zone despite only playing a limited number of games at the NCAA Division I level.
“In Pac-12 action, Schwartz earned the batting title after putting together a .406 average over 40 contests. Schwartz was also the team-leader in RBIs with 45, despite missing 13 games, and clouted eight home runs to rank second on the squad.” -The OCR on Schwartz
Schwartz was able to slug his was to All-American honors despite missing 13 games on the season. With more games played at the Division I level Schwartz cold have most definitely found himself picked in the earlier rounds of this draft.
UCLA 1B JT Schwartz (@JTSchwartz4) gets the Bruins on the board first w/ RBI 2B down the RF line. Tall, lanky frame w/ room to add strength. Has AA bat to ball skills. Shows quick bat speed here. Now has 18 XBH of the year@UCLABaseball @PGCollegeBall @PG_Scouting pic.twitter.com/EfAEyLZzx7
— Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) May 28, 2021
With this pick, the Mets break their draft streak of three straight pitching prospects.
