1. RHP Nolan McLean | 24 | MLB | 2025

McLean might actually be a little closer to Lincecum than Tong in terms of stuff and approach to the game. His is more or less a “let’s see if you can hit this” style of pitching, featuring nasty stuff that moves all over the zone. He throws six different pitches at least nine percent of the time, and his sweeper is the only one that’s gotten hit this season. He’s throwing it 26 percent of the time even though batters are hitting .361 with a .528 slugging percentage against it. If he can back off on that pitch and maintain the results from the others, he’s going to be a monster for a long time. At 6’2” 212 lbs with another life as a position player, he’s got a lot of upside that the Mets are quickly unearthing. To even call it upside feels ludicrous looking at his 2.08 ERA through 48 major league innings. Reading these last few sentences back to myself made me bump McLean ahead of Tong, for what that’s worth.