And even as McLean has opened eyes with the Mets both in the spring \u2014 as well as down the stretch last season after being called up to the majors \u2014 Carlos Mendoza said this will be a type of environment the rookie has never seen before.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, the manager hopes McLean finishes the game unscathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have mixed feelings,\u201d Mendoza said Monday at Clover Park before the Mets faced the Nationals. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biggest fear among organizations is that an important player will be lost to injury in the tournament, as the Mets know well after Edwin D\u00edaz was knocked out for the 2023 season when he suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee while celebrating a win for Team Puerto Rico in that year\u2019s WBC.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-mets-manager-carlos-122373127.jpg\")
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza talks in the dugout. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
But Mendoza also knows how much McLean can gain from pitching in that type of game.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re representing your country and you\u2019ve got the whole world watching you,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cIn this case, he\u2019s got \u2018USA\u2019 on his chest, playing with and against the best players. It\u2019s going to be intense. That doesn\u2019t mean the intensity is not the same at the big league level. The big leagues are the big leagues, but this is something different. It\u2019ll be definitely different than what he experienced last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that comes the concern that he tries to do too much at this point of the spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s on the back of the mind of people and organizations,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure the Pirates felt the same way with [Paul] Skenes pitching. \u2026 You hold your breath.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nolan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nolan-mclean-26-team-united-123782785.jpg\")
Nolan McLean #26 of Team United States pitches in the second inning against Team Italy during the 2026 World Baseball Classic \u2013 Pool B at Daikin Park on March 10, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n
In the end, though, Mendoza is confident McLean is up for the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as him pitching in that environment, he\u2019s wired, he\u2019s built for moments like that based on what we saw last year,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been around him and said the moment is never too big for him. It\u2019ll be fun and I\u2019ll be watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watching, and one other thing: \u201cWe\u2019ll be praying.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Francisco Lindor felt good Monday, according to Carlos Mendoza, after playing Sunday in his first Grapefruit League game since he underwent left hamate bone surgery last month.<\/p>\n
The shortstop was a full participant in Monday\u2019s drills. If he doesn\u2019t report any setbacks, Mendoza said Lindor would play Tuesday in Jupiter and then begin playing back-to-back days following Wednesday\u2019s team off-day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Carson Benge is still trying to land a spot on the Opening Day roster and started Monday\u2019s game in right field.<\/p>\n
Mendoza and the front office have declined to tip their hand about the top prospect\u2019s chances of making the team out of spring training.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to continue to play his game,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that can happen by Opening Day. He\u2019s done everything we\u2019ve asked him to do. He doesn\u2019t have to do anything extra. Just let us make the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 The Mets play the Marlins on Tuesday in Jupiter, but all eyes will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,1443,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,2517,185,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-627506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-carlos-mendoza","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkmets","16":"tag-nolan-mclean","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116242619094769424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}