Nolan McLean Emerging as Ace of Rotation

The Mets snapped a season-long eight-game losing streak on Sunday, and Nolan McLean, by far their largest bright spot during this long-term slide, pitched yet another gem. McLean threw six scoreless innings, making him the only pitcher in Mets history to begin his career with a six-game streak of at least five innings pitched and fewer than three runs given up.

New York needed every ounce of it. For the second straight day, a Mets starter pitched six shutout innings, but like Saturday, the offense was only able to muster two runs in regulation, and then the bullpen quickly gave up the lead. On Saturday, the culprits were Tyler Rogers and Edwin Diaz, whereas on Sunday, Brooks Raley and Reed Garrett were the pitchers involved. But unlike the previous day, the bullpen gave the offense an extra inning to respond, and Pete Alonso walked off the proceedings with a three-run home run.

McLean also holds the lowest ERA (1.19) through six starts in franchise history. Terry Leach stands behind McLean with a 1.73 ERA, followed by Nolan Ryan (1.98), Dillon Gee (2.09) and Tylor Megill (2.10). Talking postgame to reporters, the Mets rookie said team results are prioritized over his individual accomplishments.

Nolan McLean's 5th, 6th and 7th Ks thru 5. pic.twitter.com/O7jnPlY2kG

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 14, 2025

“I’m not a huge stat guy,” McLean said, “I try to just, like I said, go out there and give my team the best chance to win every single time.”

“He impresses me every day when he’s on the mound,” McLean’s battery mate Francisco Alvarez said, “He can move the ball around. He can control every one of his pitches … that’s what makes him so good.”

McLean continued his fastball/sweeper mix to put away hitters. And he didn’t change too much based on the handedness. He threw his sinker 37 percent of the time to righties and his sweeper 31 percent of the time. When it came to lefties, it was an even split, with his sweeper and sinker both thrown 21 percent of the time. The one difference that the Mets’ righty made was that he threw his cutter 11 times to lefties, the pitch he threw the most to them, while scrapping it against righties.

And for all you spin rate sycophants? McLean maxed out with 3121 RPM on his sweeper and 3382 on his curveball. The highest RPM on a curveball in 2025 entering Sunday was 3267. The pitcher? Nolan McLean in his debut.

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