There’s been a lot of hype about New York Mets starter Nolan McLean, and some of it has been over the top. He’s been dubbed the Mets ace-in-waiting, and it doesn't seem possible that McLean could top last season’s brief but brilliant cameo to meet or exceed expectations.
Guess again. McLean made his first start of spring training against the Houston Astros yesterday, and he simply blew them away, striking out six batters in four shutout innings as the Mets went on to beat the Astros, 5-0. He also hit 98 mph on the radar gun, and the fact that McLean was able to go four innings indicates that he’s both well ahead of hitters and on track to pitch in the WBC, which starts next week.
"There was a lot to like," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters in a piece written by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. "First time out there facing another team, and it seems like everything was working out of the gate.
“The velo was there, but [also] the movement. He's got that ability to manipulate the baseball, that two-seam. And then when you see him throw changeups right-on-right, it's pretty impressive. He got a couple of strikeouts with that pitch. Just another weapon."
McLean won’t be sticking around to use them for the Mets, though. On Sunday, he’ll fly to Arizona along with fellow starter Clay Holmes to join the rest of Team USA, and McLean expects to pitch “at least twice” in the tournament in outings that are piggy-backed with another starter.
He’ll be on something of a pitch count, with his workload expected to resemble the 56 pitches he threw against Houston yesterday, but these will be high-leverage efforts, especially in the knockout games.
“I don’t have a ton of expectations on what I’m going to go out there and do [my best],” McLean told reporters, “but I’m just super excited to go do it.”
Mets’ brass will doubtless be holding their collective breath, as will a significant portion of the fan base. The Mets will issue supportive comments about what McLean is about to do, but the truth is they’d probably prefer to have him under team control on a normal spring-training routine.
The goal beyond the WBC is to duplicate what McLean did when he came up last year, which was to go 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA across eight outings. McLean also struck out 57 batters in 48 innings, and he’s considered a favorite to be Rookie of the Year after maintaining his eligibility for that award.
Mendoza issued one of those generic supportive comments when he talked about McLean’s jump from last season’s cameo to a lead pitcher for Team USA in the WBC.
"If anybody can handle it, it's him," Mendoza said. "He's wired for it. This guy is different. He's a competitor. He's built differently -- it's as simple as that. I don't think any moment is too big for him, or any stage."