With the 2020 MLB Draft set for Wednesday, June 10, NC State junior pitcher Nick Swiney answered questions from the media via a virtual press conference Monday.

The lefty transitioned from a relief pitcher in his first two years into a starter in 2020 before the season was cut short in mid-March. Through four starts this spring, Swiney was a perfect 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA through 28 innings.

Last week, Swiney received All-American honors for his play during the shortened college baseball season.

Considered a consensus top-50 prospect in this year's class, Swiney is projected to be selected in the first two rounds of the shortened five-round draft. Here is what the former Wolfpack pitcher said in his press conference Monday:

How did the MLB draft process change for you when you transitioned into a starting pitcher this year rather than a relief pitcher?

Everybody had seen me out of the bullpen, but I hadn't had a true seven, eight-inning start. Going into this year, talking with our pitching coach, coach [Clint] Chrysler and our catcher, Patrick Bailey, I just tried not to go out there and be too perfect.

That was an area I found myself in trouble last year, and my pitch count would go up. I knew I needed to be out there and compete for my team for seven, eight-innings on a weekly basis.

Mock drafts have you going anywhere from the first round to maybe the third. Have you been given indication by teams on where you'll go and what do you expect?

I have my own opinion on where I think I should go. These teams are doing their due diligence, as they should be. We’re in weird times right now. I see all those articles, I get tagged in them.

Like you said, late first round to anywhere in the second is what I've been seeing. No specific team really has just come up to me on a call or anything like 'hey, we're going to take you here.' There are some teams that might have me ranked higher on their boards than other teams, so I can't really look into it too much.

They have their certain depth charts that they're looking into, but it's an interesting time because you get to see all these different opinions. I just try not to get too caught up in it because that's not going to really be beneficial for me. I'm just taking it a day at a time and enjoying the process as it goes on.

How does the shortened five-round draft change things for? In your position, I guess you don't have a lot of control over it, do you?

When that happened, you feel bad for the team and the guys around you. It hurts because right now we should be in postseason times right now, which definitely stinks. You miss hanging out with those guys, playing with them, hanging out with them in the locker room.

Just the way that it changed the five rounds, I don't have any control over that. The MLB did what they did. For me, I just have to move forward and prepare for whatever the next step in my career looks like. I just have to continue to keep getting ready and staying to the plan that I had put in place when all this first started.

Last week you received some All-American honors. How cool is it to be able to get that recognition and what was working so well for you on the mound this season?

It was a great honor. I actually had no idea. Until I had a Zoom call last week, I had no idea. It kind of caught me off guard, I didn't know we were doing awards for a month of a season.

I couldn't have done it without coach Chrysler and coach [Elliott] Avent. They helped me out a lot by pushing me, getting me to where I needed to be to excel at the college level and in preparation for the next level as a professional. All the hard work that was put in behind the scenes, it's been a long two and a half years coming. It was a fun day when I found that out.

With the uncertainty of this upcoming season and the trickle-down impacts on the minor leagues, have any teams told you what to expect after you’re drafted?

I have no idea. You see in MLB, they're trying to get started up in like July and now you see things like they're not even going to have a season. I know they're pushing for the MLB faster than the minor leagues.

I know spring training is in Arizona and in Florida. I have no idea if I would go to any of those places or if I would be staying home in Charlotte or the Raleigh area. I might have to go work out at a facility somewhere else like Atlanta or Tampa.

How does it feel not knowing where you'll be or even if you'll be playing by next month?

I know everybody's in different situations. Like international players, they're all over the place now. It's definitely a crazy time. From my perspective, I can't try and question what they're gonna do and when they're going to come back. I just have to go day by day.

Your former teammate, Patrick Bailey, is also expected to hear his name called pretty early. From a pitcher's perspective, what things does he do well, dealing with pitchers that helps you guys on the mound that makes him a first-round MLB prospect?

There's a reason why he's most likely going to be a first-rounder in the top 15 picks. A lot of people don't really see how he gets to know his pitchers really, really well behind the scenes. He really tries to form that relationship with them and get to know what their strengths are and what he needs to call to put them in the best situation.

For the two and a half years that I was with Patrick, we got to have a really good relationship and he knew he could tell me anything and it wouldn't offend me. I could tell him anything and it wouldn't offend him. We both trusted each other. That's something appealing, he calls his own game in college. You don't see that very often. It's really impressive on his part, he really knows the game very well.

He's a very good defender back there plus he has a good arm. Switch-hitting catchers are also a plus to the scout level. I was fortunate enough to have him for two and a half years and it was a lot of fun.

What have you been doing to stay in shape? Are you able to throw off a mound and how often do you do that?

I was trying to throw out of a pen when I first got back home two or three months ago. I'm back in the Charlotte area right now.

I'm allowed to throw at our high school football field, so I'm throwing out there. It's turf, so I can go out in the rain, that's not a big issue. I've been throwing every day.

I've only been off the mound three times since my Virginia start in early March. Everything was shut down early when this first started to hit, so I didn't have very many opportunities like you may have seen from other guys down in Florida. They're off of the mound every day.

I'm fortunate enough to have a gym here at my house, so I've been lifting every day just trying to stay busy. Lifting and throwing are the big things, but I've also been helping my parents around the house. Yard work, I built a patio for them. Anything just to stay busy leading up to the draft.

Have you had a chance to talk to any of your teammates and in particular, Tyler McDonough and Devonte Brown, who are both right on that edge of whether they're going to be drafted or whether they're going to come back?

Yeah, I haven't talked to Devonte, I know he's down back in the Atlanta area working out and hitting every day.

McDonough, I actually saw him this past weekend. He's going through the whole process that I'm going through. Same with Pat [Bailey], he's talking to teams.

I have no idea what he's going to do. I don't know if he does either. He's in the same spot, just listening to every option. If his name is called, he's going to have to weigh every single option just because he is in a different circumstance. He still has two more years that he could have leverage with. It'll be interesting. I haven't really dug into it and that's not really my area to talk. I just kind of give feedback to them, to Austin Murr, McDonough and Brown.

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