Nolan McLean had a very different approach on the mound in 2026 compared to 2025. For a variety of reasons, he didn’t rely on the same 6 pitches he threw in his first taste of big league action with the New York Mets.

Notably, it was the drop of his sweeper, his weakest pitch last year and this year, that had McLean’s overall performance changing.

McLean ended up throwing 8 different pitches for the Mets in 2026. How did the six familiar ones compare to 2025 and were the two new ones he introduced effective enough to keep around?

What Nolan McLean can learn from his pitch selection in 2026 vs. 2025Sinker

Once again his most frequently used pitch, the results were quite similar. A .193 batting average in 2025 vs. .191 this past year yielded practically the same results. The biggest difference coming from the sinker was his ground ball rate fell from 60% to 45.9%. Still better than average and not fully the result of his sinker, managing an average exit velocity of 87.2mph against the 92.4mph in 2025 should give us continued confidence in this pitch.

Four-seam fastball

McLean’s four-seamer became a larger part of his arsenal with a huge jump in the slugging batters did against it. Hitters ripped 7 home runs against the four-seamer and had a .460 slugging percentage overall. Nobody took him yard on the pitch in 2025 and they slugged just .154. The whiff rate worsened as well, going from 37.1% to 27.2%. If he’s going to use this pitch more, it’ll need to improve.

Curveball

The curveball remained used around the same percent of the time as used in 2025. Matching the .074 batting average against it in 2025 was impossible. It remained effective with only a .132 average against. This is still one of his best weapons and he knows how to use it.

Sweeper

Nobody will mind if he never throws another sweeper again. After batters hit .361 against it in 2025, they did slightly more damage with a .366 batting average. Although the .259 xBA showed some promise this year in comparison to the .380 xBA from last year, the pitch has resulted in way too much devastation to keep.

Cutter

Not new but used more regularly, the cutter was another tool from the box to consider shelving. A .338 batting average against with a personal worst .554 slugging percentage against, the lack of success kind of came out of nowhere. It was a decent pitch of his in 2025 with only a .250 batting average against. Now, we’re not so sure.

Changeup

McLean added some velocity to his changeup going from 86.8mph to 88.2mph. This didn’t make it a better pitch, though. An impressive 36% Put Away percentage in 2025 dropped down to only 13%. The .262 batting average against was slightly worse than where he’d like it yet a major change from the .143 in 2025.

Slider

Brand new to his bag of tricks, McLean’s slider is here to stay. He fooled batters with only a .077 batting average against it. Whiffing at a 37% rate that was right behind his nasty curveball’s 37.8%, this pitch has essentially replaced his sweeper and we can’t wait to see more of it.

Slow Curve

Thrown just 4 times, there’s not enough to really know but it’s definitely one of those random pitches that could pick up an out every once in a while. Don’t dive too deep. There’s no reason to believe it became a regular.

McLean’s best pitches remained the best while the weaknesses showed themselves. The ability to add a slider over a sweeper might have been the biggest key of all. Improving his four-seamer or cutter could be one necessary step McLean needs in order to become a true ace. Alternatively, stick with the sinker and make it the unquestioned best pitch in the sport. At a 27 Run Value, it was the best pitch in the sport this past season that wasn’t a 4-seamer.

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