This is the next post in a series intended to bring awareness to some of the lesser-known prospects in the Mets' organization This series will post a different prospect each weekday at 11:00am EST for the benefit of our fans.
The 2021 draft was infamous for the Mets due to their selection of Kumar Rocker with their first pick and subsequent decision not to sign him. Hidden beneath that pick were a handful of very good players who are showing promise in the development system including Calvin Ziegler (2), Dominic Hamel (3), JT Schwartz (4), and Christian Scott (5).
JT came out of UCLA where he brought home a Pac-12 batting title in his junior year in 2021. He signed for $475k which was just under the slot value for a 4th round pick. He played 25 games with St. Lucie after being drafted and then spent the full season with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2022, batting .273 as he got used to professional baseball.
Schwartz played the majority of the 2023 season with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies where he found his mojo, slashing .302/.383/.437 and playing outstanding defense as their starting first baseman. JT missed over two months with a quad injury, but upon his return in July, Schwartz was one of the most productive hitters in a very talented Binghamton lineup, batting .348 with a .921 OPS over his last 39 regular season games.
This prospect rarely strikes out and has the kind of swing that translates to higher levels. Think of John Olerud without the batting helmet. JT has the size at 6-4, 215lb to hit with power, and has shown the ability to do so in batting practice, but his in-game strategy so far has been to maximize contact, which paid off with his PAC-12 batting title and his .302 average in AA. He will need to transfer more power into his game swing to win over the evaluators that value power highly, but it seems that he will take an evolutionary path there rather than a dramatic change.
His stellar season in AA last year got him an invite to the Arizona Fall League. There, he hit .247/.325/.411 with a .736 OPS in 73 at-bats over 20 games. Schwartz started very well, but suffered a slump over the last few weeks of the season that dropped his average from the .280s to the .230s before a late recovery. JT was third on the team with 13 RBI, named hitter of the week for the AFL in week 3, and was selected to play in the AFL fall stars game where he impressed defensively with a lay-out catch of a foul ball.
JT is both a solid hitter and a great glove guy. In AA Binghamton last year, he had 323 chances in 378 innings and committed one error. He has great range and starts the double play as well as anyone that has come through Binghamton in a long time. I think JT has a future in this organization and I am looking forward to watching him progress.
