One of the adages about Major League Baseball that rings the most true is that it's extremely tough to make it to the big leagues, but even tougher to stay there.

Right-handed pitcher Grant Hartwig has learned that lesson the hard way. Signed by the New York Mets as an undrafted free agent in 2021, Hartwig made a fairly fast climb to the big leagues, debuting in 2023 and throwing a total of 42 major league innings over two seasons.

Unfortunately, after putting up a 5.14 ERA in that major league sample size, Hartwig found himself released by the Mets this summer after spending the first three months of the season in Triple-A. He then played the remainder of the season in Japan, where he made 20 appearances at two levels for the Hanshin Tigers organization.

That experience overseas landed

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