Nolan McLean will make the start for the Mets on Saturday against the Mariners. The team announced yesterday that Frankie Montas would be moved to the bullpen and will not be making the start.
McLean began the season as the fifth-ranked prospect on Amazin’ Avenue’s list of Top 25 Mets’ Prospects. He began the year in Double-A Binghamton, where he posted a sensational 1.73 ERA in 26 1/3 innings across five starts. He was promoted to Triple-A in May, where he continued to excel. In 16 appearances for
the Syracuse Mets, including 13 starts, he posted a 2.78 ERA in 87 1/3 innings. He has 97 strikeouts and has walked 38 while allowing eight homers. In MLB Pipeline’s recent re-ranking of prospects, McLean was listed as the team’s third-ranked prospect, and Number 37 overall in MLB.
The Mets’ starting pitching has been a sore point for the club for the better part of two months. The rotation, which at one point sported the best ERA in the league, has fallen in recent weeks, with the starters routinely unable to pitch deeper than five innings. Since June 13, the Mets’ rotation owns a 5.19 ERA, which is fifth-worst in MLB. Meanwhile, they have only thrown 223 2/3 innings, which is dead last in MLB and comes out to an average of just under 4 2/3 innings per start.
McLean gets the nod over Sproat, who currently owns a 4.10 ERA in 101 innings across 22 starts for Syracuse. Sproat began the year as the team’s top-ranked prospect on Amazin’ Avenue’s top prospects list, and currently ranks fifth on MLB Pipeline’s list.
