2020 Draft Profile: Nick Swiney

LHP Nick Swiney, North Carolina State
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DoB: 2/12/1999.
2020 Stats: 4-0, 1.29 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 42/6 K/BB in 28 IP.

Nick Swiney and Patrick Bailey form one of the better draft batteries in college baseball, but unlike the well-established Bailey, Swiney is a pop-up prospect who has significantly improved his stock this year. He was alright as a sophomore reliever in 2019, with a 4.61 ERA and a 95/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 56.2 innings, but in 2020, he took it to another level in his transition to starting. On February 29th, he allowed just one baserunner while striking out 15 over eight shutout innings against Purdue, his best start en route to a 1.29 ERA and a 42/6 strikeout to walk ratio across 28 innings.

Swiney doesn't throw all that hard, sitting around 90 with his fastball – sometimes a little above, sometimes a little below. He gets good deception on the pitch due to some crossfire action in his delivery, and it plays up when he locates it well. His curveball has two plane break and has missed bats throughout his college career, and his wide arm angle gives it some extra nice sweeping action. Lastly, his best pitch might be his changeup, coming in with great sinking action down in the zone. Despite not throwing all that hard, he has very effective secondaries to consistently retire both left handers and right handers.

The big difference between 2019 and 2020 has been command. After walking 12.6% of his opponents in 2019, he dropped that to 6.1% this year, and he was doing a much better job of hitting his spots within the zone as well. That command makes everything play up, and because he's new to starting, there is hope that he could add some velocity. He'll definitely need to do so if he wants to be more than a #5 starter, but if he can just get himself more consistently into the upper end of his velocity in the low 90's, he'd be in serious business.

Swiney was up to 94 when he pitched in relief, and the hope is that he can get close to that with more full time reps in the rotation. The ceiling here is that of a mid-rotation starter, and he could be very effective as a left handed reliever if the velocity doesn't bump up. He got off to such a dominant start in 2020, and teams love seeing that out of a lefty, so he has a pretty good shot at going in the second round despite the lack of velocity. Regardless, he should be gone by the end of the third or the early fourth at the latest.

Pitching in 2020
2020 start vs Purdue