He's the 2-way guy the Mets drafted in the 3rd round of the 2023 draft out of Oklahoma State. And I love that the Mets were like, "Do your thing, bro. Hit, pitch, whatever," and he got a handful of games between rookie ball and St. Lucie where he did both.
So far (strictly as a right-handed hitting DH), he's gone .125/.375/.313 (.688) in just 24 plate appearances (but he did hit a bomb with St. Lucie).
On the mound, the righty appeared twice and went 3.1 IP, with a hit, a run, 2 walks and 2 Ks. Fun!
A review of his season just dropped today and here's the highlights (link: https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/news/nolan- ... 2023-matt9)
Found an interview with him talking about being a baby Met. It basically confirmed I adopted the best player ever hands down. He apparently loves THE DARK KNIGHT and calls the movie a "masterpiece" and Heath Ledger's performance one of the "greatest cinematic acts that could ever be put together" (scroll to 4:32). He even does a Bane impression at 5:30, wow I love this guy.Season Summary: Given that McLean was drafted in the third round in July, he wasn’t going to get much time to play, given the organizational onboarding that occurs with draft picks. He got a taste of what is to come with his eight games combined at rookie league and at St. Lucie. But he definitely struggled with his small exposure to professional pitching. Meanwhile, as a pitcher he showed off a solid arm and navigated professional hitting well.
What’s next: He’s probably not the next Shohei Ohtani, but the Mets allowed him to explore both options this season and will probably allow him to do so in 2024, at least until one wins out. MLB.com writes that McLean’s path may be as a pitcher, but McLean reportedly prefers to hit. He’ll probably start at St. Lucie in 2024 and be allowed to do both. He has a high-level fastball but needs consistent complementary pitches. He has raw power as a hitter but needs to cut down on strikeouts. He’s a project.
At 6:08 he waxes about his love for "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Ric Flair and the Rock and even goes for a Ric Flair "WOOOOOO!" right about the 7-minute mark. How do I buy a McLean jersey.
