Nolan McLean is downright scary. <\/p>\n
The Mets\u2019 rookie righty made his second start of 2026 Thursday night and put his full arsenal on display. He made it abundantly clear that when he has his stuff dialed in, it\u2019s virtually unhittable. <\/p>\n
McLean carved up the Giants\u2019 lineup, retiring the first 15 batters he faced and taking a perfect game into the sixth inning. He got a bit out of whack at that point, walking the first two batters he faced before a sacrifice fly and a Willy Adames ground rule double chased him from the game. <\/p>\n
The 24-year-old\u2019s final line in what was his first win of the season showed two runs allowed on one hit and two walks with four strikeouts in 5 1\/3 innings. That didn\u2019t tell the whole story. <\/p>\n
McLean\u2019s stuff was downright nasty and, based on his first start of the season and his performances for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, it is only getting better. He checked in at No. 7 on our preseason top 50 MLB prospects<\/a> list, and that may have been too low.<\/p>\n In 2025, McLean made eight starts at the big league level, going 5\u20131 with a 2.06 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 57 strikeouts against 16 walks in 48 innings. He showed ace-level stuff, though he still had much to refine, and his control issues from the minors were still something to monitor. So far, so good in 2026. <\/p>\n According to Statcast, McLean\u2019s average four-seam fastball velocity has jumped almost a full mph this season from 95.8 to 96.6. Here\u2019s a look at him pumping a 98 mph fastball by Rafael Devers Thursday night:<\/p>\n Nolan McLean, 98mph \u26fd\ufe0f<\/p>\n K Hop \u2714\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/mAEjwHGBov<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n His sinker has also jumped up a tick from 94.8 to 95.2 mph. More importantly, the sinker is now averaging 17.9 inches of arm-side run, up from 16.1 inches in 2025. That\u2019s elite movement for a sinker. McLean made Jung Ho Lee look ridiculous as he attempted to chase one.<\/p>\n Nolan McLean, Evil 94mph Sinker. \ud83d\udc7f pic.twitter.com\/UsOpjtgYQg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n That thing dropped off the table like a bowling ball. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the hard stuff that has improved. The spin rates on McLean\u2019s breaking stuff have taken a leap forward. In 2025, his sweeper generated an average of 2,929 rpms, so far in 2026 it\u2019s up to 3,137. Similarly, his curve clocked in at 3,248 last season and is registering at 3,313 through two starts this year. As expected, those increased spin rates have had a dramatic impact on both pitches. <\/p>\n In 2025, McLean\u2019s sweeper averaged 16.8 inches of horizontal break to his glove side. In 2026, the average has jumped to 20.5 inches. He has gone from having a good movement profile on the sweeper to being elite. He threw a front-door sweeper to Heliot Ramos to get him looking on Thursday night that featured 23 inches of horizontal movement.<\/p>\n Nolan McLean, Ridiculous 84mph Front Door Sweeper. \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n 23 Inches of Horizontal Break. <\/p>\n 4th K thru 5…and \ud83e\udd2b pic.twitter.com\/eYRo3M7O6z<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n That is an absurd pitch. <\/p>\n While the curveball\u2019s movement profile hasn\u2019t changed a ton, he\u2019s throwing it harder. McLean\u2019s curve is currently averaging 81.6 mph, compared to 80 mph in 2025. He\u2019s breaking 17.7 inches horizontally, and -15.1 inches vertically. That\u2019s compared to 18.7 inches horizontally and -13.6 inches vertically in 2025. So it\u2019s sweeping less but dropping more. He dropped one on Jerar Encarnacion that induced a weak swing and a strikeout.<\/p>\n Nolan McLean, Unfair 3369 RPM Curveball. \ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/054lJPTRV0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Good luck hitting that. <\/p>\n McLean will also mix in a cutter that sits between 89 and 91 mph just to give a different look, and he\u2019s still refining a changeup. <\/p>\n We\u2019ve been using the great Rob Friedman\u2019s videos throughout this piece, so it\u2019s fair to give him one more. This is an overlay of McLean\u2019s sweeper and sinker. It might be the most incredible one of these I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n Nolan McLean, 84mph Sweeper (22″ of break) and 97mph Two Seamer (18″ of run), Individual Pitches + Overlay.<\/p>\n 40 inches of horizontal movement difference. pic.twitter.com\/1FCdDBQGld<\/a><\/p>\n