There are late bloomers, and then there’s Jack Slightom.
Barely a year ago, Slightom was a two-way player for the Lyons baseball team and was set to become the football team’s starting quarterback. In mere months, he transformed into one of the top pitching prospects for the 2026 MLB draft, which will be held Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia.
“He elevated himself to a level this year that was fun to watch,” Lyons baseball coach Kevin Diete said. “The high point was seeing how much he improved in one year. If he takes what he’s done and continues to roll with it, he can go as far as anyone.”
Slightom, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound right-hander who has committed to Cincinnati, is ranked 60th by ESPN.com and 89th by MLB.com among all draft prospects. But he started to focus on pitching only a year ago.
“This last year is the first time that I’ve been a pitcher only,” Slightom said. “Even as a junior, I still did a lot of catching when I wasn’t pitching. The good thing about that is that people can see the growth I’ve had in that period, focusing on this one piece.”
Focused on multiple pieces, Slightom went 5-4 with a 3.28 ERA during his junior season. Over 42 2/3 innings, he struck out 49, walked 24 and allowed 39 hits.
But this past season, he was almost unhittable. He went 7-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings. He allowed just two earned runs on 13 hits and nine walks.
“I grew very late,” Slightom said. “Even last fall during football, I was only 6-3. I was always on the top team with my travel program up until around 15U. But last summer, I was back on the top team. I kept grinding, and it shows that I wasn’t going to let my late growth affect me.”
Slightom also started working with pitching instructor Logan Schmitt last summer. During their first sessions, Schmitt saw a raw talent with untapped potential.
“He was a coach’s dream,” Schmitt said. “Since he was fairly new to solely pitching, he was not very aware of what he wanted to do on the mound. We got him heavier and continued to build on his knowledge. I thought, ‘This could be something special.’
“He knows how to pitch now and has more of a well-rounded arm.”
With improved mechanics and additional strength, Slightom increased his fastball velocity from 90 mph to the upper 90s. That attracted attention when he pitched on a team coached by Milwaukee-based Cincinnati Reds scout Andy Stack.
“I was very fortunate to play with them, and we went all over for games,” Slightom said. “The team had a ton of talent.”
With that exposure, Slightom got a lot of major league teams interested.
“I started getting calls in the winter, and there were probably 15 to 20 scouts at our first game, and I thought, ‘This is really happening,’” Diete said. “The next game, there were a few more, and by the end of the season, there were 25 to 30 at every game.”
With elite velocity and command, Slightom leaned on his fastball early in the season. Then Schmitt suggested that Slightom show everyone, opponents and scouts alike, another aspect of his repertoire. Slightom chose his change-up, which is his favorite pitch.
“We were playing a team from Indiana, Hanover Central, who was ranked No. 2 in the state, and in the third inning I threw either 11 or 12 pitches,” he said. “Nine were change-ups, and all nine were whiffs. When I’m really ripping that off, it’s filthy.”
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Slightom’s reputation grew, and he was invited to the MLB draft combine at Chase Field in Phoenix in late June.
“That was a really cool experience, a cool environment with a lot of great players,” he said. “Besides teams wanting to get to know you, there was a big medical piece. They want to know everything about your body and how it works — things like how long your fibula is and your bone structure.”
In the weeks before the combine, Slightom continued to have in-person visits from scouts, and he also traveled to stadiums in Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and San Diego to meet with MLB teams.
Slightom’s trip to St. Louis was his first and had special meaning for him, largely because his father grew up in a small town near the city on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.
“That was the first time it truly clicked what I was experiencing, realizing all of those things you envision as a kid, the fields they play on and the crowds they play in front of,” he said.
But it really hit home for Slightom after the combine.
“It’s been just this last week that it’s started to get into my mind,” he said. “During the spring, I was only focused on the high school season, and since school ended I’ve been trying to relax. I figure I should enjoy everything and not focus on the outcome. But it is exciting.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.