Nolan McLean sure can spin it, but the rookie didn’t solve the Mets‘ issue of starting pitching length.
Making his big league debut, McLean shut out the Seattle Mariners over 5 1/3 innings on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field in a 3-1 win, navigating a deep lineup with an array of spinning breaking pitches. It was an impressive outing for the rookie right-hander, but when manager Carlos Mendoza went out to the mound in the sixth, fans booed the move.
“I heard them loud and clear,” Mendoza said. “If I was sitting in the stands, I’d boo myself.”
In front of a sellout crowd of 42,978, the 24-year-old McLean pounded the zone, unafraid to go right at hitters, something Mets starters haven’t been doing effectively since June. McLean (1-0) threw 91 pitches, working more efficiently in the early innings than he did in the middle. The Mariners managed only two hits off McLean, who struck out eight, becoming the sixth Mets rookie to strike out eight or more in a debut outing, and walked four.
Maybe the Mets should have brought him up in June.
“I felt pretty good once the [first] batter stepped in there,” McLean said. “It was just competition mode there.”
A former two-way player nicknamed “Cowboy Ohtani” as a nod to where he played college ball at Oklahoma State, McLean looked every bit as athletic as the scouting reports suggested when he started a 1-4-3 double play in the top of the top of the third. He deftly fielded a comebacker by Julio Rodriguez with a backhand catch, turning to throw to Brett Baty at second base.
“I try to stay as athletic as possible, but I think that play was majority luck,” he said. “Playing infield in my past I think definitely helps. Fielding it was the hard part on that.”
The play came with one out and AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh on first base, having reached with a single. It was a tough part of the order to face the second time through. McLean insisted the ball simply found his glove, but the turn to throw to second isn’t easy for every pitcher. The Mets already knew that he could field his position well since he played infield in their minor league system, but what it showed was tremendous instincts and some maturity on the mound.
McLean effectively minimized the moment.
“I think I told [bench coach John Gibbons], ‘Alright, let’s see what he’s got here,” Mendoza said. “Right away, you’re getting tested. You’re going through the heart of the order there, let’s see how you want to respond in the situation. It didn’t seem too big for him, he kept making pitches, got a ground-ball, ended up making a play. After that, just no panic. He’s just a pretty confident kid.”
It was unlikely the Mets were going to let him throw more than about 90. His career-high mark in Triple-A is 97, and the Mets don’t like to push their pitchers past the 90-pitch mark very often. But this was McLean’s first ever Major League start, and he was thrown right into the fire against a deep lineup in the middle of a playoff race. Not to mention, the Mets are dangerously close to falling out of the postseason standings, having lost four straight games coming into the game, and 14 of their last 16.
This win might not look impactful on paper, but it was big.
“We felt the energy from the moment he took the mound,” Mendoza said. “A strike out right away and we just continued to build on that. Then in that last inning, they put him on the big screen, and that is pretty neat. Definitely something that maybe we’re missing, especially with how hard this stretch has been.”
McLean was caught off guard seeing himself on the scoreboard. Eventually, he waved to the crowd after some prompting from outfielder Tyrone Taylor.
“I just saw everybody kind of part away from me that I was talking to at the moment,” McLean said. “I didn’t really know what to do at that time, but that was awesome.”
He wasn’t expecting Mendoza to remove him in the fifth inning for left-hander Gregory Soto, but once he made the trek back to the dugout and looked up to see the fans giving him an ovation, it sunk in.
Right-hander Bryan Woo (10-7) nearly matched McLean’s effectiveness, limiting the Mets to one run over six innings. Francisco Lindor’s RBI double in the third scored Brett Baty to put the Mets ahead 1-0.
Once the Mets got to the bullpen, they had more success, scoring again in the seventh off left-hander Caleb Ferguson. Up 2-0, Seattle (68-56) went to the bullpen for right-hander Carlos Vargas to counter right-handed slugger Pete Alonso, which proved to be the wrong move. Alonso doubled to the left field corner to bring home Nimmo and give the Mets a 3-0 for closer Edwin Diaz.
After a week of blown leads and bad baseball, it looked as though the Mets (65-58) were doomed to the same fate when Diaz gave up a one-out home run to Eugenio Suarez in the ninth. The right-hander was unbothered by the bomb, retiring the next two to secure a six-out save (24).
Finally, it all came together.
Originally Published: August 16, 2025 at 6:56 PM EDT