Top 25 Mets Prospects for 2025: Nolan McLean (5)

Name : Nolan McLean Position : INF/RHP Born : 7/24/2001 Height : 64 Weight : 215 lbs.

Bats/Throws : R/R Acquired : 2023 MLB Draft , 3rd Round (Oklahoma State University) 2024 Stats : 25 G, 67 AB, .224/.297/.552, 15 H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 6 BB, 38 K, 1/1 SB, .417 BABIP (High-A) / 35 G, 63 AB, .159/.232/.333, 10 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 6 BB, 36 K, 0/0 SB, .292 BABIP (Double-A) / 7 G (7 GS), 28.0 IP, 0 H, 9 R, 8 ER (2.57 ERA), 10 B, 36 K, .328 BABIP (High-A) / 18 G (18 GS), 81.2 IP, 76 H, 43 R, 38 ER (4.19 ERA), 32 BB, 80 K, .300 BABIP (Double-A) Nolan McLean was a two-sport star at Garner High School in Garner, North Carolina, dominating on the baseball diamond and on the football gridiron.

As a football player, he lettered three years and threw for 6809 yards and 62 touchdowns.

He lettered for three years in baseball and hit a cumulative .381/.589/.719 in 53 games with 11 doubles, 0 triples, 12 home runs, 7 stolen bases in 8 attempts, and 64 walks to 28 strikeouts.

McLean also spent considerable time on the mound and posted a cumulative 2.05 ERA in 54.2 innings over 26 games with 38 hits allowed, 25 walks, and 88 strikeouts.

He did not play much in his senior year due to the cancellation of the baseball season due to the COVID-19 pandemic but would have likely been drafted by a major league team if he had signaled his willingness to sign.

Instead, he signaled that he was going to honor his commitment to Oklahoma State University and went undrafted.

Part of McLeans interest in going to college was the ability to star for the OSU Cowboys as their quarterback.

That fall, he joined the OSU football team as a walk-on quarterback but did not appear in a game for them.

In the spring, he appeared in 39 games for the Cowboys, missing some time from a back injury, and hit .263/.410/.526 with 10 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs, 1 stolen base in 2 attempts, and 27 walks to 50 strikeouts.

In addition, he appeared in a pair of games on the mound, giving up 4 earned runs in 2.0 innings with 2 hits allowed, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts.

That summer, he played for the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod Baseball League and hit .261/.469/.522 in 8 games with 2 home runs, 0 stolen bases, and 9 walks to 12 strikeouts.

That fall, when he returned to Oklahoma State University he decided to hang up his football pads for good.

A draft-eligible sophomore due to his age, he decided to focus on baseball to give himself the best opportunity to go pro.

McLeans new focus on baseball paid off, as he excelled as a hitter while also getting the opportunity to show off his ability to pitch.

Splitting time between second and third base, spending most of his time at third, he hit .285/.397/.595 with 16 doubles, 1 triple, 19 home runs, 2 stolen bases in 4 attempts, and 37 walks to 107 strikeouts.

On the mound, he appeared in 23 games and posted a 4.97 ERA in 25.1 innings with 20 hits allowed, 13 walks, and 39 strikeouts.

The Baltimore Orioles liked what they saw and selected him with their third-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, the 81st overall pick, designating him a pitcher.

The two sides were unable to come to an agreement after Baltimore saw some post-draft physical results they were unhappy with, and McLean ended up being the highest selected played in the 2022 MLB Draft to go unsigned, and one of two third round selections to not sign with a team, along with New York Mets third round pick Brandon Sproat.

McLean returned to Oklahoma State University for his junior year, his primary defensive position moved from the infield to the outfield.

He appeared in 43 games, missing time in April after crashing into the outfield wall attempting to make a play and injuring his MCL, and hit .250/.379/.532 with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 4 stolen bases in 6 attempts, and 27 walks to 57 strikeouts.

On the mound, he appeared in 14 games, making 3 starts late in the season, and posted a 3.30 ERA in 30.0 innings, with 30 hits allowed, 17 walks, and 34 strikeouts.

The Mets selected McLean in the 2023 MLB Draft with their third round selection, the 91st pick overall, and the two sides agreed to a $747,600 signing bonus, exactly the MLB-assigned slot value.

As opposed to the Orioles, the Mets designated the two-way player a third baseman when drafting him.

McLean split the rest of the summer with the FCL Mets and the St.

Lucie Mets, appearing in 8 total games as a hitter and two as a pitcher.

At the plate, he hit a cumulative .125/.375/.313 with 1 home run, 1 stolen base, and 7 walks to 11 strikeouts.

On the mound, he threw 1.1 innings total, allowing one earned run on 1 hit and 2 walks, with 2 strikeouts.

Ranked 25 on Amazin Avenues 2024 Mets Top Prospects list, McLean began his 2024 season with the Brooklyn Cyclones and began wracking up the strikeouts, both good and bad.

On the mound, he posted a 2.57 ERA in 28.0 innings over starts, allowing 20 hits, walking 10, and striking out 36.

At the plate, he hit .224/.297/.552 in 63 at-bats, drawing 6 walks and striking out 38 times.

Of his 15 total hits, an astounding 12 went for extra bases, resulting in a Barry Bonds-ian .328 ISO.

At the end of May, the Mets promoted him to Double-A Binghamton, but he was sluggish out of the gate on the mound and continued struggling with the bat.

By the end of June, the right-hander was hitting .159/.232/.333 in 63 at-bats with just 5 total extra base hits, and the decision was made to end the experiment and for him to focus on pitching.

McLean eventually settled down on the mound after a rough first month or so and ended up having a solid season with the Rumble Ponies, posting a 4.19 ERA in 81.2 innings over 18 starts, allowing 76 hits, walking 32, and striking out 80.

The 62, 215-pound McLean has a sturdy frame for pitching.

Though the 109.2 innings he threw in 2024 were a career high for the right-hander, he should be able to soak up innings in the future as he throws more consistent innings.

On the mound, McLean throws from a three-quarters arm slot, his release point magnified even further with his drop-and-drive delivery.

The ball explodes out of his hand, heightened by its lower approach angle.

His fastball sits in the mid-to-upper-90s, sitting 95 MPH in 2024 with Brooklyn and Binghamton and topping out at 98 MPH.

The pitch works best high in the zone, and is easy, effortless velocity out of his hand.

He complements his fastball mainly with sweeping slider, occasionally mixing in a changeup, cutter, and curveball.

The slider is the best of the bunch, sitting in the mid-to-high-80s and having recorded spin rates over 3,000 RPM.

The pitch can have excess of 20 of horizontal movement, and he uses it against right-handed batters and left-handed batters alike, throwing it away to right-handers to get them chasing and backfooting left-handers.

Command is the only thing holding back scouts and evaluators from grading the pitch a true plus offering, as McLean sometimes has trouble getting the pitch to go where he wants it to, thanks to all of the movement it has.

His cutter sits in the high-80s-to-low-90s and mainly uses it as a bridge between his fastball and slider, throwing it off of his fastball as they tunnel well together and setting up his slider.

His changeup, which sits in the mid-80s, also tunnels well with his fastball, but the pitch lacks the depth to be an effective swing-and-miss offering.

Despite utilizing multiple grips to manipulate the shape of the pitch, it does not tempt batters and is mainly used as a change of pace offering to sneak one by batters who are sitting on velocity.

His control with both the cutter and changeup is also fleeting, but both flash enough potential to not be completely shelved.

At the plate, prior to his focus being concentrated only on pitching, he showed tremendous power.

With natural strength and a swing optimized for lifting the ball into the air, McLean had easy plus power, but an easily exploitable swing that resulted in difficulty making contact.

In his sophomore season, he set he set the NCAA Division I record for strikeouts, beating Tom Mendoncas 2008 record by swinging-and-missing 107 times, and had he logged as many games, he likely wouldve beat Jeff Parnells career record, as he struck out 214 times in 146 games with OSU, as opposed to Parnell, who struck out 252 times in 223 games for South Carolina in 1990-1993.

His strikeout rates remained equally high after going pro, leading to low batting averages at the lowest rungs of the minor leagues and the organizational decision to have McLean develop only as a pitcher.

2025 Mets Top 25 Prospect List 06) Drew Gilbert 07) Ryan Clifford 08) Luisangel Acuna 09) Jesus Baez 10) Ronny Mauricio 11) Jonathan Santucci 12) Jeremy Rodriguez 13) Boston Baro 14) Nate Dohm 15) Marco Vargas 16) Blade Tidwell 17) Eli Serrano III 18) Trey Snyder 19) Nick Morabito 20) Dom Hamel 21) Jacob Reimer 22) Will Watson 23) Daiverson Gutierrez 24) Ronald Hernandez 25) Edward Lantigua.

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