Trey McLoughlin, photo by Ed Delany of MMN
Trey McLoughlin, RHP
B/T: R/R Ht: 6’2 Wt: 210 LBS
Age: June 11, 1999 (22 years old)
Acquired: Mets 2021 16th round draft pick (Fairfield)
2021 Stats (FCL/St. Lucie): 0-2, 6.10 ERA, 7 G, GS, 20.2 IP, 1.306 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 8.3 K/9
It was after the draft that the Mets heads of their amateur scouting operation Tommy Tanous and Marc Tramuta gave some insight into why they drafted two Stags off of Fairfield University’s baseball squad. Though the Stags play in the mid-major Metro-Atlantic Athletic (MAAC) conference, they enjoyed a spectacular 2021, finishing with a 39-5 record and first ever NCAA regionals win.
The Mets senior scouting gurus hold the belief that it pays to give good looks at successful programs because they must be doing something right.
And likewise, upon further looks, they clearly felt that Fairfield’s top right-handed starter was doing enough right on the mound that warranted giving him the opportunity to turn pro.
McLoughlin had struggled with some minor shoulder inflammation, missed pitching opportunities due to the pandemic, and had general difficulty throwing enough strikes early on in his college career.
But, he turned that around in a pretty significant way last spring and summer, when he first struck out 32 batters and walked only four in 23.0 innings for Fairfield.
After the Stags’ season concluded, McLoughlin headed up to the Cape Cod summer league and tossed 11.0 scoreless innings against premier amateur competition right before the draft.
Mets scouts took notice of his improved ability to pound the strike zone with his fastball, which he operates in the low to mid 90s, and his low 80s slider, which features sharp vertical tilt.
The Human Highlight Reel. Trey McLoughlin was 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/BPIjDlMy2o
— Fairfield Baseball (@Stags_Base) May 25, 2019
While McLoughlin received a pretty rude welcome to a first assignment to full season ball with low-A St. Lucie after signing (yielding a whopping seven home runs in 20.0 innings of work), the work and road ahead has just begun for the tri-state local product.
Getting back to getting ahead in counts (the seven walks in his 20.2 pro innings will have to get cleaned up) as he has shown the ability to do when going well, will be key for McLoughlin. That will subsequently enable him to deploy his slider to elicit chases down in the zone.
You never know when a jump in velocity or sustained command can buoy a reliever up through the system. It’s now time for the Mets and Mcloughlin to see where and how high he can go.
