Seth
Lonsway

2021 MLB Draft: Highly regarded out of rural Celina, Ohio, Seth Lonsway ranked as the top high school talent in the Buckeye state in 2017. Although the Reds took a 19th-round flyer on him during the draft and made a run at signing him, he chose instead to follow through on his commitment to Ohio State. As a red-shirt freshman in 2019, he was second in the Big Ten in strikeouts (126) and led the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (21) for an encore in 2020. Lonsway passed on pro opportunities in the five-round draft last year, and saw an uneven year in 2021. He has swing-and-miss stuff, but periodically struggles to get the ball over the plate--hence the 98 strikeouts and 43 walks in 68 innings this year. The fastball sits 90-93, but his calling card is a devastating hammer with 12/6 shape and up to 3000 rpm. At 80-84, his slider is also a wipeout pitch with two-plane break and late bite. His control brings some reliever risk to his profile, but he has the stuff to dominate if he can harness it even a little.

With a noticeably stronger frame from my last look in the 2019 Cape Cod League, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Lonsway was in attack mode from the first pitch during his Saturday start against Nebraska. He worked quickly from the windup, slower from the stretch, and seemed much more comfortable pitching to left handed batters than right. The velo of his 91-93 mph fastball was down from previous looks (#HeatSheet at 96 mph), but his control was much improved, showing the ability to spot the pitch to both sides of the plate. He has also shown improved control this season with 37 BB in 64 IP compared to 59 BB in 92 IP in 2019 and 18 BB / 18 IP in 2020. His best offering remains a knee-buckling, high spin 79-82 mph curveball. It spins to the plate with an elite level 2900+ rpm and is a swing/miss weapon at any level. It’s also the likely pitch that gets him to the Major Leagues as a reliever.

Highly regarded out of rural Celina, Ohio, Seth Lonsway ranked as the top high school talent in the Buckeye state in 2017, per Prep Baseball Report. Although the Reds took a 19th-round flyer on him during the draft and made a run at signing the lefthander, he chose instead to follow through on his commitment to Ohio State. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, he went 8-4, 3.70 while finishing second in the conference in strikeouts (126). In the encore last year, he led the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (21.0), by punching out an absurd 42 hitters in just 18 innings. Once again, Lonsway passed on professional opportunities in the COVID shortened draft last June, wagering on himself to return to campus for yet another season. The results have been uneven thus far, as the southpaw continued to show his trademark bat-missing stuff, but he periodically struggled to get the ball over the plate, entering last weekend’s series with an 0-3 record and an ERA north of 5.00. Although he’s had a great deal of success in Columbus, if there’s a knock on Lonsway throughout his collegiate career it’s been shaky fastball command. He throws a pair of devastating breaking pitches, but their effectiveness is augmented when he’s able to work ahead with his fastball and hitters are forced to chase the secondary offerings. Pitching against a first place Indiana team this past weekend, Lonsway was in total control of his arsenal, tossing a seven-inning shutout, allowing just two hits, one walk and striking out a career-high 17. In an absolutely overpowering performance, the Buckeyes captain recorded his first 10 outs of the game via the strikeout. Moreover, he tossed an immaculate inning in the second frame, dispatching the heart of the Indiana lineup in just nine pitches. Lonsway’s repertoire includes a fastball at 90-93 mph that he was able to locate to all four quadrants on Saturday. His calling card is a devastating hammer curveball with 12-6 movement that has elite spin up to 3000 rpm. At 80-84 mph with two-plane break and late bite, his slider is also a wipeout pitch and he elicited 19 empty swings on these two breaking pitches (24 in total). One adjustment that he’s made is that he’s lowered his arm slot a tick year-over-year. Whereas he was almost completely over the top previously, he’s now throwing from closer to a traditional three-quarter release. Per the coaching staff, the alteration allows him to keep his head more upright and his eyes level and on target. Lonsway has somewhat of a polarizing figure among scouts. There’s some reliever risk in the profile, and the command will be scrutinized for the remainder of the season. The bottom line, however, is that there aren’t many players in the country that can dominate the way that Lonsway did this weekend and he did it in front of more than a dozen scouts and a couple scouting directors. It only takes one team to fall in love with you, and there was a lot to love about this latest look. (B Granger)

Lonsway became even more famous after his 12-strikeout start at Georgia Tech in Week Two when he sat 92-94, and up to 96 mph with fastball and paired with a plus-to-better curveball. That momentum slowed a bit in Week Four with a 70-pitch, two-inning, eight walk performance against Stetson. He ended the shortened 2020 season with a whopping 42 strikeouts in 18 innings, but his 18 walks, two hit batters and five wild pitches are concerning. Nonetheless, he pitched his way onto the radar of scouting directors and top three round consideration this summer and profiles as a reliever at the pro level.

8/16/19: The 6-foot-2, 195 pound lefty had struggled with his control (9 walks in 7 IP) in the Cape previous to my look, however he did anything but against Chatham. Working quickly, he pounded the zone throughout his 20 pitch, 14 for strikes, relief appearance. With average arm speed and a hard to repeat delivery his fastball sat 87-88 mph with late sink to his gloveside. From a high three-quarter slot he spotted the pitch to both sides of the plate. His best pitch was an average curveball which he kept down in the zone at 74-76 mph. When “on” it was tough on left-handed hitters. He also mixed in an 83 mph changeup with fastball arm speed. Finishing the season with a 4.55 ERA, Lonsway pitched through a lot of traffic on the bases allowing 19 runners in 12 IP. Despite the inconsistent summer, he will head into the 2020 spring season as one of the more talented prospects in the Big Ten. With greater consistency of both his control and breaking ball, he is a likely Day Two talent. (Seifert)

Game Report: Athletic 6-foot-2, 192-pound lefty is one of the most dominant arms in the 2017 class. I have seen Lonsway throw a handful of times, and the southpaw just gets better and better each outing. Facing the back-to-back state champion Defiance, Lonsway was dominant, allowing just two hits while striking out nine in a 1-0 shutout victory. The fastball sat 91-93, touching 94 mph a couple times, including once from the stretch. The southpaw settled in at 90-92 from the 3rd inning on. The fastball shows natural run to the arm-side. To go along with the 4-seamer, Seth has a 2-seam fastball that he was throwing with good movement at 84-86 mph. The offspeed offerings include a curveball and a slider. The curve, which can be seen at the 1:16 mark was 73-74 with good depth and 12/6 action. The slider, which can be seen at the 9-second mark, can be a filthy out-pitch for the smooth throwing lefty. Lonsway, an Ohio State commit, could be the top draft prospect for the Buckeye State and today he showed exactly why.

6-foot, 165-pound athletic frame. On the mound the southpaw has a slow tempo delivery with good direction. Throws from a high-¾ slot with his fastball sitting 83-85 mph with arm-side run. He uses a breaking ball with good depth and 12/6 action at 69-70 mph. Seth did showcase a slider with side-to-side action and late break at 72 mph. Three-pitch lefty that was impressive and will be interesting to see how he progresses. One to keep an eye on.