Considering the names that have come up through the Mets’ ranks, whether it be Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Doc Gooden, or Jacob deGrom, Nolan McLean is already doing things that no other New York starting pitcher has accomplished.
The 24-year-old right-hander became the first hurler in franchise history to win each of his first three career starts, doing so in dominant fashion against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night at Citi Field.
McLean flirted with a Maddux, going eight scoreless innings while allowing just four hits with six strikeouts and zero walks on 95 pitches.
“All I can say is wow,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That was super impressive. He dominated one of the best lineups in the league, and he made it look easy. Everything about the kid, not only what we’re seeing on the mound, but the way he carries himself. He’s got electric stuff, but he has pitchability. He knows what he’s doing on the mound, he knows how to manipulate the baseball, and he knows what hitters are trying to do to him. He’s not afraid to use all of his pitches.”
His arsenal consists of six pitches — an ever-dynamic mix that he can tweak and lean on depending on who is at the plate.
The core of his stuff is a 95-mph four-seam fastball, a 94.6-mph sinker, and a sweeper with 15.8 inches of horizontal movement — pitches he throws evenly to both lefties and righties.
But his approach changes completely when facing left-handers. Of the 51 curveballs, which possess a mind-bending 19 inches of horizontal break to go with 13 inches of vertical break, 35 have come against lefties. He has an 86-mph cutter that he’s thrown 18 times across his first three starts — 17 of them came against lefties. Sixteen of the 18 changeups he’s thrown have also been deployed against left-handers.
It left the Phillies practically swinging at smoke on Wednesday night in Queens, as McLean induced 13 whiffs. Nearly 40% of his pitches were either swings-and-misses or called strikes.
“That’s one of the best starts I’ve seen him have,” catcher Hayden Senger, who has worked with him in the minors, said. “It was really incredible. He was able to get early outs in counts, keep his pitch count low, but he was also able to strike them out when he needed to.”
Amongst starters who have made their first three career starts with the Mets, only Matt Harvey and the Hall-of-Famer Ryan have racked up more strikeouts than McLean’s 21. His 0.89 ERA ranks No. 1 amongst pure starters, while his 10 hits allowed are tied for tops.
“He’s a stud, man,” Mark Vientos, who stayed red hot with a home run and three RBI on Wednesday night, said. “It’s so fun to be a part of to see what he does on a day-to-day basis, and the confidence he has for being a rookie in the majors is amazing.”
His arrival could not have come at a much better time. The Mets’ starting rotation had been reeling for the better part of two-and-a-half months before desperation forced David Stearns to give McLean the call.
Through three turns of the rotation, he has not only been their most consistent arm, but he has been their most dominant. In the Mets’ last 60 games, there have been only four instances in which a starting pitcher has gone seven innings. McLean accounts for two of those instances, and he has not been in the majors for two weeks yet.
“We’ve been missing that kind of performance all year, and here we are when we gotta go,” Mendoza said. “As a team, knowing that when he takes the baseball, you feel pretty good about your chances, that’s a really good feeling.”
