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There are a number of starting pitchers off to hot starts this season. Jose Soriano of the Angels is coming off back-to-back ten-strikeout gems. The Pirates held onto Mitch Keller this offseason and he's sitting on a 1.00 ERA after three starts. The Yanks seemingly can’t hit so Fried and Schlitter have decided to become unhittable. But over in Queens 24-year-old Nolan McLean is looking like the real thing. In three starts this season: 2.70 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 20 K, 6 BB, opponents hitting .140. And this comes after his 2025 rookie season when he amassed a 5-1 record, a 2.06 ERA, and 57 K in 48 innings.
Clean sweep: What makes McLean different is he has a one-of-one sweeper. The average sweeper in the majors moves 14 inches horizontally. McLean's moves up to 23 inches, sometimes hitting 26 inches. Hitters know it's coming, they're sitting on it and they're still getting out. Against the Giants earlier this year he threw one that had Heliot Ramos pulling back his elbow as if the pitch might hit him, only for the ball to sweep all the way back in for a called strike. Asked after the game why McLean is so hard to hit Ramos could only say, “Por que… he’s nasty.”
The rest of the arsenal: McLean has the devastating sweeper, but he combines that with five other pitches. His four-seam fastball sits around 95 MPH, occasionally touching 97. In his rookie season he unveiled a sinker which provides the consistent action he doesn’t always get with his four-seam. His cutter is a work in progress but has proven effective against lefties. His changeup dances like a Wiffle ball when it’s working. And his curveball has the highest spin rate in the majors; to find a pitch that moves as much as his you have to go back to Rich Hill’s 2021 curve. The difference is that Hill’s curve came in at 70 MPH and McLean’s sits at 80 MPH.
Holding it down: The Mets, like their crosstown rivals, have dropped five straight games. Soto is out for at least another week and their bats have not done anything recently. Until the team starts hitting the Mets will need McLean to continue to stymie hitters. We have the rest of the season to see if the league can figure him out.
How many games does Nolan McLean win in 2026?
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