David Lennon: Mets' Nolan McLean eager to perform his patriotic duty for Team USA in WBC championship game
Nolan McLean of Team USA delivers a pitch against Team Italy in the first inning during the World Baseball Classic at Daikin Park on March 10 in Houston. Credit: Getty Images/Kenneth Richmond
MIAMI — Nolan McLean, the Mets’ prized rookie starter, will be trying to deliver a WBC title when he climbs the mound Tuesday night for Team USA at loanDepot Park.
As for his handlers here, including U.S. pitching coach Andy Pettitte, they’re hoping to deliver McLean back to the Mets in one piece, prepped and ready to take the No. 2 spot in the rotation when the regular season begins later this month.
It’s the eternal debate surrounding this spring training tournament: balancing a player’s patriotic duty with his major-league responsibilities, i.e. his day job, and then staying on track to maybe help win a World Series.
McLean, beyond question, sounds all-in on both fronts, which made him the ideal candidate for this year’s U.S. rotation, and ultimately the one to take the ball for Tuesday’s championship game against Venezuela.
“I think you’re crazy if you don’t want to do this, honestly,” McLean said Monday afternoon. “Just getting the opportunity to put USA on your chest and go out there and compete with honestly the best players in the world, I think it’s an unbelievable experience for me.”
Still, many of the game’s elite pitchers are just fine taking a pass on the assignment. That’s why it was such a huge deal when Paul Skenes signed on last May, months before wrapping up his first National League Cy Young Award, and Tarik Skubal — the American League’s reigning back-to-back Cy Young Award winner — also joined the staff, albeit for only one start.
Skubal, a pending free agent, is on the brink of becoming the sport’s first $400 million pitcher, so dipping his toe into the WBC pool was about as risky as he preferred to get. McLean, a 25-year-old with a total of eight MLB starts under his belt, is all guts and glory at this age. He’s the first rookie to start a WBC game for the U.S. But McLean also understands the gravity of what he’s been doing away from the Mets.
“I think for me, I’m just trying to stay in the moment as much as possible, and right now I’m on Team USA,” McLean said. “My job is to go out there and compete for Team USA. And then, after Tuesday, it’s all about the New York Mets for me from there.
“Obviously, hitting the pitch quotas I need to hit to have my arm in a good spot to start the season is a big deal. But right now I’m only worried about the next game.”
You could say the Mets are a bit concerned, too. McLean is allowed to throw 95 pitches, according to the WBC guidelines, but manager Mark DeRosa’s plan is more in the range of 65 to 70. In Port St. Lucie, the Mets will be on the edge of their seats for each one.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Mets closer Edwin Diaz suffered a major knee injury at the 2023 WBC — celebrating on the mound with his Puerto Rico teammates after closing out the Dominican Republic — and was lost for the season. This year, Steve Cohen has invested $370 million on the rebuilt roster and manager Carlos Mendoza is entering the final guaranteed season of this contract. There’s a lot at stake, and McLean is a pivotal piece after flashing sky-high potential (5-1, 2.06 ERA, 10.7 K/9) last year.
On that note, Newsday colleague Ben Dickson pitched the question to Mendoza at Mets camp on Monday afternoon: How does he feel about his No. 2 starter under the WBC spotlight in Tuesday’s do-or-die title showdown?
“Mixed feelings — I’m not gonna lie,” Mendoza said, smiling. “It’s awesome. It’s a great opportunity. The fact that he’s going to have that experience is something unbelievable. We’ll be praying.”
Totally fair. But McLean carries himself with the sort of cool confidence that tends to put teammates at ease, all while terrorizing opposing hitters. And he’s the uber-focused type that doesn’t get derailed.
When McLean came down with vertigo-like symptoms earlier this month, delaying his arrival at the U.S. camp in Arizona, he took a few days to get right, then hopped on a plane. Most would have bailed on the WBC at that point, but that drive is what has helped make him so good so fast.
“I think he’s just built for this,” DeRosa said. “His mindset, his stuff, his want — all of that kind of led to him being a part of this team.”
Pettitte, a bulldog himself, knows one when he sees one. The former Yankees great hasn’t been around McLean for very long, but the rookie made a strong impression from the jump.
“We want guys that want to be here and want to do this,” Pettitte said.
There’s no flinch in McLean. Even after the vertigo, and getting dinged up some by Italy in his previous start, he still represents Team USA’s next-best chance after Skenes pitched them into the title game with Sunday’s gutsy effort, allowing only Junior Caminero’s solo homer in 4 1⁄3 innings in Team USA’s 2-1 win.
Against Italy, McLean opened by striking out the side on 11 pitches. But with two outs in the second, Kyle Teel launched a first-pitch fastball into the seats, and after McLean plunked Jac Caglianone with a full-count curve, Sam Antonacci hammered another heater over the fence to put Italy up 3-0 in what eventually became a shocking 8-6 loss for the U.S.
Italy hoped to get another shot at McLean in the championship game but lost to Venezuela, 4-2, in a semifinal on Monday night.
Don’t expect a similar ambush this time around in the championship game. McLean showed up here to finish the job, and then do the same for the Mets once he’s back.
“If you work your whole life at something, you want to be put in these spots,” he said. “So it’s just kind of a dream come true to be able to get the ball in such a big moment.”
The Mets will be crossing their fingers for that dream to continue well past Tuesday.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
