Time is right to see if Nolan McLean has stuff to make impact for Mets
Nolan McLean of the Mets throws a warm-up pitch prior to the top of the fifth inning of a spring training game against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park on March 15 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Getty Images/Christopher Pasatieri
Nolan McLean cares about his stuff.
That was one of Paul Blackburn’s takeaways when he saw the Mets' top pitching prospect in Triple-A Syracuse during Blackburn’s rehab assignment there.
“‘Stuff score’ is like a big, big thing everyone talks about,” he said Wednesday, referencing a metric that, in essence, measures a pitch’s nastiness. “It’s definitely different talking to a younger generation.”
It makes sense, and McLean’s repertoire — his nastiness, if you will — was certainly one of the things will earn him his first major-league start when the Mets take on the Mariners Saturday.
He’s got a wipeout sweeper with plenty of movement and a hefty spin rate. He throws six pitches, all from a three-quarter arm slot, with a slightly above average fastball, sinker and curveball, according to Baseball America. In 16 games with Syracuse, he compiled a 2.78 ERA, and averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings, though his 38 walks over 87 1/3 innings indicate lingering control issues.
Which is great. That’s important. Numbers and analytics and data are good.
But major-league debuts are about more than that, especially in August, with your team clinging to a wild-card spot and playing at a far below-average clip since June 13. No, on Saturday, McLean, 24 and a 2023 third-round draft pick, is being tasked with going beyond the metrics, and the Mets seem confident he can do it.
“He definitely — I wouldn’t say surprised me, but he definitely surprised me,” Blackburn said to laughter. “His demeanor and his presence out there, he really looked like he knew what he wanted to do.”
Brooks Raley, who also saw McLean during his rehab assignment, noted that the pitcher’s past as a two-way player seemed to have informed his abilities.
“He understands what guys are trying to do against him,” he said. “Obviously, there’s always things to learn, but I think that gives him a leg up for sure.”
No rookie should be expected to save a season, and McLean certainly isn’t being asked to do that. But as the Mets scuffle and try to figure out an increasingly dire starting pitching situation, the righthander provides a jolt of excitement, and maybe an avenue for future success.
It’s a tricky balance. McLean has simply not had a lot of time to develop. He’s only pitched in 48 minor-league games — a slingshot up the ranks that allowed him to sniff the air in Port St. Lucie, make a quick stop in Binghamton, dabble in Triple-A and will now land him in Flushing.
But right now, this team needs a few things. It needs to build off the good vibes and offensive explosion that keyed Tuesday’s 13-5 win over Atlanta — the one where Pete Alonso broke Darryl Strawberry’s franchise home run record.
“It needs starting pitching. On Wednesday, even the reliable David Peterson wasn’t immune to the staff’s penchant for short starts, lasting just 3 1/3 messy innings. And yes, for as much as intangibles can be overblown, it wouldn’t hurt to inject a little youthful vigor in a team entrenched in the slog, dog days of summer.
It's a lot to put on any young player’s shoulders, even if the Mets don’t intend to. But the goal here was to find someone who could handle it.
“Everybody talks about the sweeper in the mid-90s, the sinker and all that but [it’s also about] the way he carries himself,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I remember Dickie Scott, our Triple-A manager three weeks ago…and [McLean’s] name always comes up and it’s 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. There’s a lot to like.”
If things go well, McLean’s performance could be an audition for an expanded role at the major-league level. And that, too, entails pressure. How many hot-shot prospects have fizzled out when the reality of facing major-league batters, in front of all those fans, with your future on the line, really, truly hits?
But that’s part of it too, isn’t it?
“Pressure?” Mendoza said. “There’s always pressure. It’s the big leagues.”
On Tuesday, when Mendoza first floated the idea of calling up a prospect, the manager was asked why now. After all, if you really want to give a player a soft landing, a road game on May 4 is a little bit easier than a home game in the middle of a pennant race.
“Development-wise, May 4…we didn’t feel like they were ready to come up and help us,” Mendoza said. “Right now, they’re putting themselves in a position where it’s like, ‘Hey, man, this might be the time’. We did it last year with [Luisangel] Acuna. We want them to go out there and be themselves.”
And in the end, that’s all McLean has to do. Saturday, we’ll see if he has the stuff to pull it off.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
