The last year has been a whirlwind for New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean.
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Why not add a start for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic championship game to everything else?
McLean, 24, made his major league debut for the New York Mets last August and immediately established himself as one of the better starting pitchers on the team — if not the National League.
McLean went 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA in eight regular season starts. He’s poised to help the Mets get back to the postseason in 2026 after a disappointing finish to last season left them out of the NL playoff picture.
First, however, McLean will pitch for Team USA in the WBC. Manager Mark DeRosa told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that he has a prominent role in mind for the young pitcher.
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Specifically, McLean would start the March 17 championship game if Team USA makes it that far in the international baseball tournament.
It’s a high honor for a pitcher whose major league career has barely started — and sets up McLean to pitch arguably the most pressure-packed game of his young career.
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“I don’t have a ton of expectations on what I’m going to go out there and do,” McLean recently told reporters in the Mets’ camp about the WBC, “but I’m just super excited to go do it.”
However, McLean came into the Mets’ facility during Monday’s off-day for a check-up after experiencing “vertigo-like symptoms” such as dizziness and loss of appetite.
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As McLean ramps up his workload in the Mets’ camp, Team USA was scheduled to play an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants on March 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“[Tuesday] was a better day and, obviously, we’ll keep monitoring it,” DeRosa said of McLean, via ESPN. “We have until [Friday] to finalize the roster, but certainly he’s been with us for the last three, four months and we’d love for him to join us.”
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