Santiago, Foggo, and McLean
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2024 11:25 pm
In the low minors, the Mets are currently rocking three two-way players, or at least three players who've gotten this far as two-way players.
Nolan McLean, last year's third-round pick out of Oklahoma State, seems to be the one they are most interested in going forward with. He's only just gotten his feet wet as a pro, but the Mets have used him as a pitcher (3 1/3 innings) and as a DH (24 trips to the plate).
Eric Foggo was a corner infielder/corner outfielder through his four years with Stetson (aka "deGrom U") and a fifth year with Alabama. But hitting well in a part-time duty for the Tide wasn't enough to get him drafted (six Alabama teammates got selected) and so he tried his hand at pitching in the Pioneer League. Three scoreless innings later, and the Mets purchased him from Evansville. He's now thrown 23 OK-but-not-eye-opening innings with St. Lucie, and he hasn't been used at the plate, but a .964 OPS in the SEC his senior year is hard to ignore.
Chris Santiago was a slugging corner infielder for St. Mary's (West Coast Conference) who had only occasionally taken the mound for the Gaels, but it was the mound where the Mets liked him when they chose him in the 18th round of the 2022 draft. But after starting out with three scoreless innings in rookie ball, Santiago missed all of 2023 with injury, presumably surgery, as he was announced out for the year pretty much all along. So depending on how his rehab goes, necessity as much as ingenuity may lead to him picking up his bats again.
There's a good chance only one or perhaps none of them get to proceed on both tracks, but I salute Japan for opening up that door. Who knows how many brilliant careers we might have seen had a US organization or two had the stomach for allowing a ballplayer to play on both sides of the ball, as virtually all of them did for most of their juvenile careers?
Nolan McLean, last year's third-round pick out of Oklahoma State, seems to be the one they are most interested in going forward with. He's only just gotten his feet wet as a pro, but the Mets have used him as a pitcher (3 1/3 innings) and as a DH (24 trips to the plate).
Eric Foggo was a corner infielder/corner outfielder through his four years with Stetson (aka "deGrom U") and a fifth year with Alabama. But hitting well in a part-time duty for the Tide wasn't enough to get him drafted (six Alabama teammates got selected) and so he tried his hand at pitching in the Pioneer League. Three scoreless innings later, and the Mets purchased him from Evansville. He's now thrown 23 OK-but-not-eye-opening innings with St. Lucie, and he hasn't been used at the plate, but a .964 OPS in the SEC his senior year is hard to ignore.
Chris Santiago was a slugging corner infielder for St. Mary's (West Coast Conference) who had only occasionally taken the mound for the Gaels, but it was the mound where the Mets liked him when they chose him in the 18th round of the 2022 draft. But after starting out with three scoreless innings in rookie ball, Santiago missed all of 2023 with injury, presumably surgery, as he was announced out for the year pretty much all along. So depending on how his rehab goes, necessity as much as ingenuity may lead to him picking up his bats again.
There's a good chance only one or perhaps none of them get to proceed on both tracks, but I salute Japan for opening up that door. Who knows how many brilliant careers we might have seen had a US organization or two had the stomach for allowing a ballplayer to play on both sides of the ball, as virtually all of them did for most of their juvenile careers?
