Player Breakdowns: April 11th
Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Caden Dana, & David Sandlin
Nolan McLean (NYM)- High-A:
Did I have to highlight two Mets arms and 3 Mets farmhands in two days? Absolutely not. There’s a reason I’m doing so, though — I believe these arms are going to turn the Mets’ pitching stable into one of the best in the game. McLean is more raw than the next arm I’ll go over, who many know by now — and is as polished as Tommy Devito’s shoe-shine.
I wrote about McLean in the offseason and here is what I wrote:
Nolan McLean was drafted as a pitcher out of Oklahoma State to the Baltimore Orioles in the third round of the 2022 draft but decided to return to college for his Junior year. The following year, he was drafted again in the third round as a two-way player but this time by the Mets. Can you believe that? The Mets picking up on the Orioles’ scraps when it comes to prospects. It’s a change in the guard and it’s something I’ve been saying for a while now. The Mets have a legitimate pitching factory on their hands and they knew exactly what they were doing when they drafted McLean as a “two-way” player.
Appease the kid all he wants when it comes to his dream of being White Ohtani, but the reality is that it’s just not likely. He’s going to stick as a pitcher and he’s one of the more unheralded arms out there going into this season. He has a heavy-riding fastball that touches 98-99 and can sit mid-90s. He’s athletic as all hell on the mound and uses his lower half to help generate velocity. Once his front leg is planted, he externally rotates and drives right through his hips to deliver the ball at a low angle.
Let’s get to his slider. During the Spring Breakout game that he pitched, he threw a slider that was 87 mph and had over 3280 RPM according to Statcast. That’s a legitimate outlier pitch — and an outlier pitch at any level, even the Major League level. It would put his slider among one of the best in baseball. The ball started on the inside part of the plate and ended up at the batter’s ankles. Even without Statcast, you could immediately gauge that this was a nasty offering. He got his slider/cutter up to about 90-91 at its hardest. Either way, the spin on this pitch is going to be the scary part. And I think we’re underrating him severely given what looks like an elite two-pitch pairing. While that gives him a lot of reliever risk, I think the stuff can play into being one of the more dominant relievers in the game.
At Oklahoma State, he was tasked with two jobs, both hitting and pitching, and he still had a 148 Stuff+ on his fastball and a 123 Stuff+ on his slider which was still showing 3000+ RPM levels of spin. His chase rate was 19.2%. His stuff was no secret and his falling to the third round was a steal, especially to an organization that’s going to maximize his offerings and develop him with Eric Jagers up his ass. Speaking of Eric Jagers and the Mets pitching lab, let’s get to the next name on this list.
It was a solid start for McLean at the level as he was effectively wild, as I like to call it. Could he have had better command? Sure. But when he was locating, he was being effective. And credit to Asheville for not chasing some nasty pitches out of the zone on back-to-back days. It’s a disciplined lineup. McLean’s final line was 3.1IP 3H 0ER 1BB 2K (2HBP).
Let’s get to the first inning
1st Inning Whiffs & CS:
The fastball had life and ride to it. It looks like it’s sneaking up on you and then has another gear before hitting the catcher’s mitt. I’m not sure what his underlying data is and I’d love to know, but I’m certain McLean is getting good ride on his fastball. As far as the slider, the RPM I wrote about above is probably what we should be expecting. The cut fastball in on the hands of righties seemed to be effective, too.
1st Inning BIP:
All in all, not a bad first inning in terms of batted balls. He gave up a line drive single but he kept the runner at first base for another out. The runner tried to steal and Drake Osborn threw him out for a caught stealing for the 3rd out of the inning. The batter was taking all the way, but that was a nasty slider low and out of the zone to lay off of.
Innings 2 through 4 Balls in Play:
McLean induced two ground ball double plays hit right back at him in both the 2nd and 3rd innings which got him out of potential jams. He wasn’t helping himself with the walks and HBP — 4 total — but again, like Sproat, yesterday — this is their 2024 debut and I’m expecting them to put it together and have better outings. The one thing I like is that regardless of the situation, they showed some balls and got out of jams unscathed. That’s what plus stuff can do.
Whiffs & CS entire start:
Everyone’s favorite — The Whiffs + CS compilation for the entire start. It doesn’t take a professionally trained scout to see that McLean has excellent stuff and an athletic delivery. The long-term prognosis on this one is still in wait-and-see mode. I think McLean can be fast-tracked and be a dominant reliever, but if the Mets want him to start, then he’s going to have to slow play his rise and continue to master his secondaries & command.