The only thing concrete about the rest of Nolan McLean’s spring is that he will be joining Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic this weekend after a strong spring-training debut on Thursday, in which he went four scoreless innings and allowed just one hit with six strikeouts and a walk, but the extent of his workload is unknown.
“All we know is he’s there until the team needs him to,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said on Thursday. “I gotta get with the pitching coach to see exactly what day he’s going to pitch. As of right now, he’s there with them, and we’ll see what happens after that.”
McLean said after his outing on Thursday that he expects to throw “at least twice” for Team USA in what he believes will be “a piggyback role,” meaning he would come in for multiple innings after an opener. His pitch count will resemble the 56 pitches he threw against the Astros.
“I don’t have a ton of expectations on what I’m going to go out there and do, but I’m just super excited to go do it,” he said.
McLean, who will join the American squad on Sunday in Arizona for a couple of exhibition games before heading to Houston for the start of the tournament, got the call to Team USA after a brilliant eight-start debut late last season in which he went 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. While competing for one’s country at the World Baseball Classic is one of the highest honors a ballplayer can achieve, his inclusion adds more stress to what will be an unprecedented season.
The 161.2 innings that McLean pitched last season between Double-A, Triple-A, and the majors were by far the most he has thrown in a season since the start of his collegiate career at Oklahoma State in 2021. He threw 109.2 innings in 2024. As the Mets’ No. 2 starter behind Freddy Peralta to begin the 2026 season, McLean will likely not only eclipse that innings number, but he will be throwing competitive innings earlier than he ever has at the World Baseball Classic.
According to Mendoza, not much has changed about the starter’s preparations.
“This is a guy that is so meticulous about his routine and his preparation,” he said. “Came in in a really good spot. I think it’s just the back and forth with him, how he’s going to bounce back after every outing. But he’s on that same buildup as a starter. Again, it’s nothing new for him, even though he’s pitching in the WBC.”
To ramp up more quickly this spring, McLean admitted he “didn’t really shut down very long” after the conclusion of the 2025 campaign.
“I felt so good at the end of last season that I wanted to keep my arm moving. Not necessarily throwing bullpens full-time in the offseason, but I kept my arm moving for a while. Might’ve taken a week off after the season and kept throwing. It allowed me to ramp up a little bit faster and pace myself. Just take more time doing it as well.”
McLean will be joined by Mets teammate Clay Holmes in Team USA’s rotation. The veteran righty is already at four ups this spring in preparation for the competition, going 3.2 innings earlier this week in his spring-training debut.
The workload of top-tier American pitchers at the WBC is already a significant talking point. Two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers has already made it known that he will only make one start for the Americans, and that will be during the preliminary stage. NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates said that he will make two starts.
