MINNEAPOLIS -- Before Justin Hagenman took the Target Field mound on Wednesday, fewer than three-dozen players drafted out of Penn State had appeared in a Major League game. Hagenman wasn¡¯t a likely candidate to buck that trend, as a 23rd-round Draft pick of the Dodgers who spent years toiling in the Minors and who, after last season, joined a pile of more than 500 players to become Minor League free agents.
Yet there was Hagenman in the second inning Wednesday, a 28-year-old making his Major League debut.
¡°You just realize how bad you want it,¡± Hagenman said of his years spent in the Minors.
With his parents, fianc¨¦e, brother and others in attendance, most of them having traveled to Minnesota with little notice, Hagenman performed his job with aplomb in a 4-3, 10-inning Mets loss to the Twins. Pitching in relief behind opener Huascar Brazob¨¢n, Hagenman recorded 10 outs, four via strikeout, with three hits and no walks. As an emergency replacement for Griffin Canning, who was suffering from illness, Hagenman gave the Mets a chance to win.
¡°He gave us what we asked him for,¡± manager Carlos Mendoza said.
It was precisely the type of performance the Mets had signed Hagenman to provide. After parts of six years in the Dodgers organization and two more with the Red Sox (Hagenman was part of Boston¡¯s return for the Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez trade in 2023), Hagenman earned enough service time to reach Minor League free agency this offseason. He quickly became a target of several general managers, including Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who showed immediate interest and signed him to a split deal in November.
The Mets liked Hagenman¡¯s repertoire, which included a cutter-sinker combination that made him effective against both right- and left-handed hitters, as well as a changeup and slider. While Hagenman¡¯s velocity and spin rates may not have jumped off the page, Mets officials figured they could start him at Triple-A Syracuse and promote him when necessary.
¡°I don¡¯t think there were a lot of adjustments that needed to be made,¡± Stearns said. ¡°He just needed an opportunity.¡±
When the chance finally came this week, Hagenman seized it. Initially, Mets officials told Hagenman to fly to Minneapolis just in case Canning¡¯s illness lingered. So he and his fianc¨¦e -- her too, just in case -- hopped aboard a flight. While in transit, Hagenman received word that he would indeed be the bulk pitcher for the series finale against the Twins.
Whatever nerves Hagenman felt -- ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to describe it, it¡¯s just a little different,¡± he said -- dissipated when he whiffed his first batter with a perfectly placed sinker. He wound up striking out three of the first four batters he faced, while the only run he allowed came home after he left the mound.
¡°I think the first game is the hardest,¡± catcher Hayden Senger said. ¡°But if you do it older, it¡¯s kind of like, ¡®All right. Here it is.¡¯¡±
Senger would know. Earlier this season, he made his Major League debut at age 27, just one year younger than Hagenman. But unlike Senger, who¡¯s now spent three weeks at the highest level, Hagenman is likely to return to the Minors on Thursday to make room for another reliever.
That¡¯s the other thing Stearns liked about Hagenman¡¯s dossier this offseason -- his optionality, or the ability to shuttle him back and forth from the Minors without fear of losing him to another team.
At this point, Canning has recovered enough from his illness to slot back into the rotation on Thursday, making the Mets¡¯ rotation whole again. And while the team will certainly need starting pitching help again this season, Hagenman won¡¯t always get the call -- not with Paul Blackburn growing healthy, top prospect Brandon Sproat pushing for a job and others seeking their own chances.
As Hagenman himself put it, ¡°You never know if this is a one-time opportunity.¡±
Odds are that at some point, though, Hagenman will return. If and when he does, he¡¯ll go into his next outing not just with the experience of a rookie who has been there, done that, but with that of a 28-year-old appreciative of the longer road that took him there.
¡°Some guys, it might come quick,¡± Hagenman said. ¡°Some guys, it takes some time. But it¡¯s been everything you can hope for.¡±