New York Mets Finally Give Nolan McLean His Shot

Well, well, well. Look who’s finally getting their big break. The New York Mets, in what can only be described as a move born from sheer necessity rather than strategic brilliance, are promoting right-hander Nolan McLean to make his Major League debut this Saturday against the Seattle Mariners at Citi Field.

When you are replacing Frankie Montas in your rotation, you’re not exactly dealing from a position of strength. But sometimes the baseball gods work in mysterious ways, and McLean’s promotion might just be the silver lining this organization desperately needs.

McLean’s Minor League Dominance Actually Matters

Here’s the thing that should get Mets fans cautiously optimistic: McLean hasn’t just been good in the minors. He has been absolutely filthy. The 24-year-old has torn through Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse this season like a man possessed, posting a ridiculous 2.45 ERA across 113.2 innings. But here’s the kicker. He has struck out 127 batters, which works out to a 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings rate.

Those aren’t just good numbers. They are the kind of numbers that make front office executives wake up in cold sweats, wondering why they waited so long to make the call. McLean’s WHIP of 1.12 is the cherry on top of what has been a dominant campaign. For those keeping score at home, that means he has been allowing roughly one baserunner per inning, which is exactly the kind of stinginess you want to see from a prospect ready to make the jump to The Show.

The Sweeper That’s Sweeping Everyone Off Their Feet

Now, let’s talk about what makes McLean special, because this isn’t just another arm being thrown at the wall to see what sticks. This kid has something that gets scouts positively giddy: an elite sweeper that has been destroying minor league hitters.

According to SNY contributor Joe DeMayo, McLean’s mid-80s sweeper is “one of the nastiest pitches in minor league baseball” and has generated a 30 percent whiff rate at Triple-A. That means nearly one out of every three swings against this pitch results in nothing but air and broken dreams.

McLean doesn’t rely on just one pitch to get guys out. He has a five-pitch arsenal that includes two fastball shapes – a sinker and a four-seamer that both average around 95 mph and can touch 97. He also mixes in a cutter and a curveball that he can spin, though he only throws it about nine percent of the time.

From Two-Way Player to Pitching Prospect Extraordinaire

Here is where McLean’s story gets interesting, and frankly, a bit inspiring. This is not some lifelong pitcher who has been groomed for stardom since Little League. McLean began his professional career as a two-way player before transitioning to become exclusively a pitcher early last season. Talk about finding your calling.

The transition has been nothing short of remarkable. McLean went from being the Mets’ third-round draft pick in 2023 with potential to being ranked as the No. 4 prospect in New York’s farm system and 37th in all of baseball. What makes this even more impressive is that this is McLean’s first full season since making the switch to pitching only. Most players take years to adjust to focusing on one side of the ball, but McLean has taken to it like a duck to water, or in this case, like a pitcher to striking out helpless minor league hitters.

The Mets’ Pitching Prospect Pipeline Finally Bears Fruit

Let’s pause for a moment and acknowledge what this means for an organization that hasn’t exactly been known for developing elite pitching talent in recent years. McLean represents something the Mets haven’t had in quite some time. A legitimate, homegrown pitching prospect who looks ready to contribute at the major league level.

The fact that he threw 109.2 innings last season means his arm should be fresh enough to handle an extended look in the rotation, assuming the Mets don’t find new and creative ways to mess this up. And given that this is the same organization that has made questionable decisions with young pitchers before, that is not exactly a given.

What This Means For the Rotation Moving Forward

McLean’s promotion isn’t just about giving a prospect a shot. It is about the Mets finally admitting that their veteran-heavy approach to building a rotation hasn’t exactly worked out as planned. When you’re removing a guy like Montas from the rotation, you are essentially waving the white flag on your offseason acquisitions and hoping that youth can salvage what experience couldn’t.

But here’s the thing: sometimes that actually works out. Sometimes the kid with the electric stuff and the chip on his shoulder is exactly what a struggling team needs. And if McLean can bring even a fraction of his minor league dominance to Citi Field, he could be the spark that ignites what’s left of the Mets’ season.

The real question now is whether the organization will have the patience to let McLean work through the inevitable growing pains that come with making the jump to the majors, or if they will panic at the first sign of struggle and send him back to Syracuse faster than you can say “service time manipulation.”

For now, though, Mets fans have something they haven’t had in a while: a legitimate reason for optimism about a young pitcher. And in a season that’s been filled with more disappointment than a kid finding coal in their Christmas stocking, that’s not nothing.