Mets Want More From McLean As He Finds His Footing

New York Mets rookie right-hander is already the Mets’ best starter, but he’s not their ace yet, at least not according to interim manager Andy Green via an update from Bill Ladson of MLB.com. 

Green thinks McLean can be one of the best pitchers in baseball, even though his current numbers of 8-8 with a 3.42 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 136 2/3 innings reflect that of a good young pitcher who’s still developing. 

“I think Nolan can be one of the best three to five pitchers in Major League Baseball. That’s the bar we want to see him get to,” Green said. “When you say he has been good, you are proud of the way he has handled his first go-round through this league.

“It’s also with the expectation that there is more and that he can continue to get better. When an outing ends, he will analyze everything he did, but he is also going to be a competitor on the next turn, go out there and compete again [on the mound].”

It’s a big ask, but the talent is there. Teammates and opposing players, pitchers and hitters alike rave about McLean’s ability to spin the ball, which he’ll be trying to do for the second time this season against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field. 

His first effort against the Padres in San Diego resulted in a no-decision, but that clearly wasn’t McLean’s fault. He gave up just one run in six innings, and the right hander has been tilting toward more efforts like that in his starts lately. 

The biggest change in McLean so far is that he’s stopped hunting strikeouts as he learns to simply go for outs. That means throwing quality strikes early and getting ahead in counts, and while the formula is simple, it’s much harder to actually do than it looks. 

McLean faced another high-quality opponent, the Atlanta Braves, in his last start, and once again McLean allowed just one run, this time on a lone hit and two walks in six innings. That run came via a solo homer by Ozzie Albies, as McLean tried to hit the outside corner but missed his desired location by enough for it to matter. 

“It was fairly executed,” McLean said of the home run pitch. “I wasn’t trying to really punch him by any means for the strikeout there, but I would have liked it slightly more elevated. He made a good swing on a pitch that was pretty close to the outside corner, so I tip my cap.”