Nolan James McLean (born July 24, 2001) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

in the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

organization.

Amateur career

McLean grew up in Willow Springs, North Carolina, and attended

Garner Magnet High School Garner Magnet High School (GMHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Garner, North Carolina, United States, a city southeast of Raleigh. The school was founded as Garner Senior High School (GSHS), which graduated its first class in 1969. Gar ...

. McLean committed to play both baseball and football at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. McLean batted .263 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs and had a 0–1 record with a 18.00 ERA in two relief appearances as a pitcher for the

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

during his freshman season. He redshirted his freshman season on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

before giving up the sport to focus solely on baseball. In 2021, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham Anglers The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. As a sophomore, McLean batted .285 with 19 home runs and struck out 39 batters in innings pitched. McLean was selected in the third round of the

2022 Major League Baseball draft The 2022 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 MLB season standin ...

by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. The Orioles drafted him as a pitcher. McLean ultimately did not sign with the team and returned to Oklahoma State for his junior season. He hit .250 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs and went 1–2 with six saves and a 3.30 ERA in 14 pitching appearances during his junior season.

Professional career

McLean was selected by the

as a

in the third round with the 91st pick of the

2023 Major League Baseball draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

. He signed with the Mets on July 15, 2023, for the full slot value of $747,600.

References

External links

Oklahoma State Cowboys football bioOklahoma State Cowboys baseball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Nolan 2001 births Living people Baseball players from North Carolina Baseball pitchers Baseball third basemen Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball players Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Chatham Anglers players Florida Complex League Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Brooklyn Cyclones players 21st-century American sportsmen Binghamton Rumble Ponies players