Mets call up Nolan McLean to start Saturday
Nolan McLean of the New York Mets in a spring training game at Clover Park in 2024. Credit: Getty Images/Christopher Pasatieri
Following months of speculation, the Mets will call up one of their top pitching prospects this weekend.
Righthander Nolan McLean will make his MLB debut on Saturday against the Mariners at Citi Field, manager Carlos Mendoza said before Wednesday night’s game against Atlanta.
McLean, 24, is the Mets’ third-ranked prospect overall, and their top pitching prospect, according to MLB.com. He is the 37th-ranked overall prospect in the sport.
Mendoza’s confidence in McLean’s mental makeup is as prevalent as his belief in how he will pitch.
“We feel good with him going out there and giving us a chance to win baseball games,” Mendoza said. “At the big-league level, you’re going to be facing really good teams . . . You’re facing big-league hitters. But credit to him that he put himself in this position.
“And pressure, there’s always pressure. It’s the big leagues, right? The biggest thing for us is just for him to go out there and be himself and have fun.”
The move comes after the Mets moved righthander Frankie Montas to the bullpen on Tuesday. Montas signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Mets in the offseason but has a 6.38 ERA in eight games (seven starts).
So, what will McLean bring to the mound?
“There’s a lot to like,” Mendoza said. “We all see the pitches, the sweeper. Everybody talks about the sweeper. The mid-90s [fastball], the sinker and all that . . . I remember talking to Dickie Scott, our Triple-A manager, about six weeks ago. I talk to him pretty often, but [McLean’s] name always comes up. And it’s just about how he carries himself, how he deals with adversity, his ability to navigate lineups, the way he fields his position, controls the running game.
“So I’m excited to have him here.”
Fellow 24-year-old righthander Brandon Sproat, the Mets’ No. 5 prospect, was also in consideration for a call-up.
“Both of those kids were in the conversation, but in the end we decided to go with McLean,” Mendoza said. “But I think it says a lot about where Sproat is in his development, the fact that his name was in the conversation too.”
When asked if Saturday will be a spot start, Mendoza said “we haven’t got that far,” but added: “Ideally we want to give these kids a chance.”
McLean’s best pitch is a devastating sweeper that keys a six-pitch arsenal. In addition to a four-seamer and sinker, McLean throws a cutter, curveball and changeup.
He is 8-5 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.126 WHIP, 127 strikeouts and 50 walks in 21 games (18 starts) across Triple-A Syracuse and Double-A Binghamton. He has a 27.2% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate.
McLean has a 2.78 ERA, 97 strikeouts and 38 walks in 87 1⁄3 innings across 16 games (13 starts) with Syracuse. He allowed one run and three hits and struck out 14 over his last two starts (9 2⁄3 innings).
McLean’s rise has been rapid. He did not attend big-league spring training in either of the last two years.
The Mets selected him in the third round of the 2023 draft (No. 91 overall). He was a two-way star at Oklahoma State and continued to hit during the 2024 minor-league season. McLean had a .159/.232/.333 slash line with three homers in 69 plate appearances with Binghamton last season. He did not hit this season.
Righthander Paul Blackburn (right shoulder impingement) was slated to make a rehab start for Syracuse on Wednesday, but the Mets woke him up at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday to offer him the option of rejoining the team in the bullpen. Righthander Justin Hagenman, who pitched four hitless innings for his first career save Tuesday night, was optioned to Syracuse.
Blackburn has started eight games for Syracuse this season. He believes that McLean is ready for The Show.
“I’ve seen him throw three or four times down there . . . he definitely surprised me,” Blackburn said. “I was there in Jacksonville, just his first start in Triple-A. His demeanor and his presence out there, [he] really looked like he knew kind of what he wanted to do, what he was trying to do, how he was trying to set up guys. And I think that just says a lot about somebody.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
