Grant Alexander Hartwig (born December 18, 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career

Hartwig attended Detroit Catholic Central High School in Detroit, Michigan, and played for the school's baseball team. He enrolled at

Miami University of Ohio Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

, where he played college baseball for the Miami Redhawks. He underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

in April 2018 and missed the rest of the season and the entire 2019 season. The surgery and recovery made Hartwig interested in studying to become an orthopedic surgeon. The 2020 season was abbreviated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2021 season, Hartwig's senior year, no scouts approached him prior to the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

. He was not selected in the draft's 20 rounds. Hartwig graduated with a bachelor's degree in

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and returned to his parents' house and studied for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

Professional career

A few days after the draft, and two weeks before the MCAT, the New York Mets reached out to Hartwig and offered him a contract with a $20,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, the maximum allowed for an undrafted free agent. Hartwig chose to postpone taking the MCAT and signed with the Mets. Hartwig started his professional career in 2021 with the

Florida Complex League Mets The Florida Complex League Mets are a Rookie-level affiliate for the New York Mets, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Mets. The team plays its home games a ...

and was promoted to the Low-A

St. Lucie Mets The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members ...

. Hartwig was assigned to St. Lucie to begin the 2022 season, and was promoted to the High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

in May. The Mets promoted him to the Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mira ...

in July and the Triple-A

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which open ...

in September. Between the four teams, he recorded a 1.75 earned run average with 83

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and only one home run allowed in

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. After the season, he played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. Hartwig started the 2023 season with Syracuse. In 21 appearances for the team, he registered a 4.21 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 3 saves in innings of work. The Mets promoted Hartwig to the major leagues for the first time on June 19, 2023, and he made his major league debut the same day, relieving Max Scherzer in the ninth inning of a game against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. Hartwig pitched one inning, giving up no runs on one hit and one walk. He made 28 appearances for the Mets in his rookie campaign, posting a 5–2 record and 4.84 ERA with 30 strikeouts across innings pitched. Hartwig was optioned to Triple–A Syracuse to begin the 2024 season. On June 21, 2024, Hartwig underwent surgery to repair a

torn meniscus A tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to "torn cartilage" in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of ...

in his left knee and was ruled out for six–to–eight weeks.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwig, Grant 1997 births Living people Baseball players from Detroit Detroit Catholic Central High School alumni Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Miami RedHawks baseball players Lakeshore Chinooks players Battle Creek Bombers players Florida Complex League Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Brooklyn Cyclones players Binghamton Rumble Ponies players Syracuse Mets players Peoria Javelinas players