Mets prospect has been a whole lot better since hanging up his batting helmet

New York Mets prospect Nolan McLean dropped what made him such a unique minor leaguer. The two-way player took his last hacks on June 20th and has been focusing on pitching ever since. The timing is a bit strange considering he homered in that game. Consider it a swan song. He was way too overmatched in Double-A, striking out multiple times every game he’d play and coming away with only a .159 batting average. He’d end up striking out 36 times in his 69 plate appearances which feels like what a pitcher back in the pre-universal DH days would have done anyway.

McLean started the next day after his final at-bats and with 5 runs across in 2.1 innings, it was clear he needed to do one or the other. Since then, McLean has been a much more effective pitcher. Following a June where he went 0-4 with a 6.53 ERA, he has returned looking much mightier in July and August.

Mets prospect Nolan McLean has been much better since cutting out the hitting

McLean has been on as close to a hot streak as it can get since he crossed “hitter” off his occupation. He went 0-2 with a 3.50 ERA in July. A bit shaky with 9 walks in 18 innings of work, he improved that in August and then some. In 4 more starts this month, McLean has gone 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA. He has even struck out 19 in 19.1 innings while walking only 6.

His latest outing on August 25 included only 1 hit allowed in 4.2 innings. He struck out 7, walked 1, and continued a hot streak that has gone on for most of the month. McLean pitched 5.1 shutout innings of two-hit ball back on August 14. He got his win on August 20 when he allowed only 1 earned run in 6 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and fanned 5.

What McLean was attempting to do was near impossible. It’s what makes Shohei Ohtani an MVP candidate each year he does hit and pitch before the season even begins. He apparently chose correctly to plant his feet on the mound exclusively. It wasn’t a hard choice, though. While possessing a nice power bat, striking out in more than half of his plate appearances in Single-A and Double-A signaled a warning.

Any of those missed home runs off his bat can be picked up by former Oklahoma State University teammate Carson Benge who has been on a bit of a tear since beginning his professional career. Two home runs already plus a few more hits including 3 more on Thursday have him with a .387 batting average and 1.150 OPS in the infancy of his career. Rather than one very gifted player who does it all, maybe the Mets will have two who excel at one role.