How Mets third-round pick and two-way player Nolan McLean did in year one

The New York Mets drafted successfully again in 2023, selecting 23 prospects and officially signing 20 of them to contracts. The third-round draft pick by the Mets this year was a two-way collegiate player by the name of Nolan McLean.

McLean participated in two levels of the Mets organization: Single-A with the St. Lucie Mets and Rookie ball with the Florida Complex League Mets. He only pitched in Single-A while playing a position and batted at both levels. On the bump, McLean saw only 3.1 innings of work allowing one earned-run on one hit, striking out two, and walking two. He posted a 2.70 ERA with a 0.900 WHIP.

With the bat, he combined for a .125 batting average, .375 OBP, and .313 slugging percentage. McLean did not get a ton of time, only seeing 16 at-bats with three RBI on two hits, one home run, and one stolen bag.

Mets: How does Nolan McLean look from the naked eye and what can we expect?

McLean will see a lot more time next year with his first full season ahead. Although he is a two-way player right now, this is just a design for trial. It is projected that he will do one of the two tasks on the field; this most likely will be on the bump as his make up and tools are very projectable.

His overall tool-set grades between 40-50 on the 20-grade scale but his arm stands out heavily at about 70. He can reach back for an upper 90s heater, sitting around 97-98mph with a good spinning curveball, a mid-80s slider which is his out-pitch and a low working changeup which he’ll toss in the mix. He has a repeated delivery with a strong arm and reaches back to find zip in his deliveries. McLean is known to heat up as innings go on.

As a positioned player, McLean’s issue is not his defense, it’s his bat. He’s often known to strike out and miss his pitch with no visible approach in his counts. Although he has tools at the dish, he understands the game better on the other side of the 60 feet.