Tom Brennan: Is TWO WAY In This Case Really One Way? And a Recap

 

“HEY! ARE BOTH WAYS EQUALLY GOOD?”

Shohei Ohtani… 

He is the penultimate example of a very limited baseball club:

THE TWO WAY PLAYER

He is (when healthy) excellent, even dominating, as a pitcher, but even more excellent as a hitter.

OTHERS

 TWO WAYS?

Babe Ruth?

Babe was a similar predecessor, but when I read that Big Train “fireballer” Walter Johnson from that era was clocked at a pedestrian 91-92 MPH, I wonder if Babe’s pitching exploits were against much more inferior hitting competition than exists today. Babe, in his prime, fanned 448 batters in 1,221 innings. Draw your own conclusions.

MORE RECENTLY…

One two-way pitcher that for a period of time could really hit and really pitch was ex-Met Mike Hampton. In 1999, he was 22-4, and also hit 311 in 88 bats. He also had seasons where he hit .291 and .344. He’d have been a two-way player if he was playing today.

1960s hurler Earl Wilson won 121 games and in 740 at bats, crushed 35 HRs and drove in 111 runs. Hit .195, but so what? He was a BOPPER.

Ken Brett won 83 games, and had 10 HRs and 44 RBIs in 347 at bats while hitting .262, by George.

Don Drysdale was a great pitcher who hit .185 with 29 HRs and 113 RBIs.

Lastly, Rick Rhoden hit .238 with 48 XBHs in 768 ABs while winning 151 games. He fanned just 114 times in 830 plate appearances, a rate most hitters today would envy.

Which brings us to Nolan McLean, Mets 3rd round draftee and Wednesday’s Brooklyn Cyclones starter.

I think he Nolan has real pitching potential. High velocity, fine breaking stuff. Sounds like Nolan Ryan to me.

And hitting-wise, in college, he exhibited big time power. A true crusher.

You, of course, sense the “but” coming. 

But…He fanned  214 times in 616 plate appearances in college. Ouch!

In his third college season, when his hitting should have been improving, he hit just .250 with 57 Ks in 153 PAs. Bad K ratio. Ivan Wilson stuff.

He ended college at .270/.396/.561. Solid, except for the 3:1 K rate.

Mets first rounder Kevin Parada by comparison had just 73 Ks in 548 college PAs, while hitting a far higher .340/.430/.636, with similar power. 

Kevin, however, has seen his K rate double in the minors compared to his college rate, and he needs to improve to be MLB caliber as a hitter.

So, unless McLean makes drastic improvements in his hitting K rate, I do not see him as a real MLB-potential two way player, although, of course, he could be used occasionally as a power-laden pinch hitter if needed. 

A pitcher? Yes.

A hitter? Show me.

Your thoughts?

But, before I go, would Andre Dawson perhaps have been a 2 way player today?

He never pitched professionally, but the great-hitting Andre had an absolute howitzer for an arm. His 157 career outfield assists were no accident. My guess is he could have been a 100 MPH hurler.

WEDNESDAY ACTION - MOSTLY ALL GOOD:

BROOKLYN: 

Nolan McLean’s start was swell…3.1 IP, 3 H, no runs, 1 BB, 2 Ks. But Castaneda and Taveras both gave up 3 runs in relief and both left the game with 11.57 ERAs. Outhit by 14 to 7, Bklyn lost 7-3. Junior Tilien has had back-to-back multi-hit games.

BINGHAMTON: 

Raking Rhylan Thomas had 2 singles and a double, and is hitting now at his usual level: .333. Jett Williams singled and doubled, also. Rudick and Ramirez each fanned thrice,non the other hand.

Tyler Stewart was hittable, allowing 9 hits and 3 runs in 4.2 IP, no walks and just 2 Ks in his season debut.

Hunter Parsons (4 IP, 7 K, 0.00) scooped up the 4-3 win with solid relief. I wonder if he knows that not too far from CitiField in Queens is Parsons Boulevard.

Wilkin Ramos nabbed his 2nd save….with a 0.00 ERA. And Daniel Juarez retired 4 with just 13 pitches. 

A relatively balmy 55 degrees at game time. No hypothermia post-game treatments required.

SYRACUSE: 

FUTURE METS ACE CHRISTIAN SCOTT (photo by Richard Nelson)

Christian Scott vs. Naoyuki Uwasawa. An unmatchable match up. 

Well, maybe not, as the 30 year old Uwasawa got smacked around in spring training. 

Scott last night threw 5 innings against a good hitting Red Sox AAA team. Allowing 2 hits, 10 Ks. So, he has an incredible 19 Ks in 9 innings this year. I sense he will be REAL good. And with the Mets real soon. 

Then the relievers allowed 1 run and fanned 6, for a total of 16 Mets punch outs. The S Mets won despite accumulating just 4 hits.

Vientos 9 games in? 3 HRs, 9 RBIs….and no cortisone injections.

ST LUCIE: 

Mighty 3rd rounder Kade Morris was making his 2024 debut. 5 shutout innings, 4 Ks, followed by 2 shutout innings of 3 K ball by Jawilme. 19 year old Colin Houck was 0 for 5, and a throwing error. 

Trailing 1-0 in the 9th, Baez walked, Morabito singled him to 3rd, and Chris Suero TRIPLED IN BOTH RUNNERS. Big hit, dude!

 Estarling Mercado walked, Fabian Machado struck out looking, but Donovan Antonia walked and Diego Mosquera singled in two more with his second hit of the night, making it 4-1. St Lucie pitchers fanned 10.

NY METS: 

Good outcome. Weather was fine during the day, but the rains came and the game was rescheduled for September 26. The weather is supposed to be bad Thursday, so another rainout is quite possible.