In his start on Tuesday night against the Tigers, Nolan McLean ran into his first real struggle as a starting pitcher. Issuing back to back walks in the second inning, followed by back to back singles, McLean put the Mets in the hole in his first inning of work. But after that inning, McLean buckled down, allowing just two more baserunners over the subsequent five innings of work.
If you need some outside reinforcement of just how nasty his stuff was, take a listen to how the Detroit broadcast team
talked about his fifth inning performance.
As we’ve done after his second and third start, let’s compare McLean to some of his relative contemporaries who came up with the Mets and found some success over the past decade plus. As always, the small sample size caveat applies.
| Name | Game 1 IP | Game 2 IP | Game 3 IP | Game 4 IP | Total IPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Harvey | 5.1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 22.1 |
| Zack Wheeler | 6 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 5 | 21 |
| Jacob deGrom | 7 | 6 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 26 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 5.1 | 6 | 6 | 7.1 | 24.2 |
| Steven Matz | 7.2 | 6 | 5.1 | 5 | 24 |
| Seth Lugo | 6.2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 24.2 |
| David Peterson | 5.2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 21.2 |
| Tylor Megill | 4.1 | 5 | 5 | 3.2 | 18.2 |
| Christian Scott | 6.2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 22.2 |
| Nolan McLean | 5.1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 26.1 |
Especially in a 2025 rotation where five innings pitched is considered a victory, it is surprising and heartening that McLean has pitched more innings (by one third) than any of his recent comparisons. Not only that, if the game he pitched on Tuesday night had stayed more competitive, it seems likely that he would’ve at least started the seventh innings, but with a big lead and a pitch count already at 90, it made no sense to push him any further.
| Name | Game 1 Hits | Game 2 Hits | Game 3 Hits | Game 4 Hits | Total Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Harvey | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 17 |
| Zack Wheeler | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 20 |
| Jacob deGrom | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 19 |
| Steven Matz | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 17 |
| Seth Lugo | 7 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 20 |
| David Peterson | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| Tylor Megill | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Christian Scott | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 19 |
| Nolan McLean | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
Another squeaker of a category, but McLean has allowed the fewest hits of any of these pitchers as well. While Tylor Megill allowed just one more hit than McLean, he did so in eight and a third fewer innings. He’s pretty much on par with the hit prevention of Jacob deGrom at this point, who allowed three more hits in one-third less of an inning.
| Name | Game 1 Ks | Game 2 Ks | Game 3 Ks | Game 4 Ks | Total Ks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Harvey | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 26 |
| Zack Wheeler | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| Jacob deGrom | 6 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 25 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 22 |
| Steven Matz | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 22 |
| Seth Lugo | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| David Peterson | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
| Tylor Megill | 4 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| Christian Scott | 6 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 21 |
| Nolan McLean | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 28 |
Again, McLean has sole ownership of first place in this category, with Matt Harvey, Megill, and deGrom all falling close behind. Megill’s early success in terms of strikeouts was a surprise to revisit.
| Name | Game 1 BBs | Game 2 BBs | Game 3 BBs | Game 4 BBs | Total BBs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Harvey | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| Zack Wheeler | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Jacob deGrom | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Steven Matz | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Seth Lugo | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| David Peterson | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Tylor Megill | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Christian Scott | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Nolan McLean | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
Of all the categories covered here, walks allowed is the only one that McLean is not first in the clubhouse. Noah Syndergaard, Seth Lugo, and Christian Scott all notched just five walks in their first four starts, with McLean walking two more batters.
| Name | ERA after four |
|---|---|
| Matt Harvey | 3.63 |
| Zack Wheeler | 4.29 |
| Jacob deGrom | 2.42 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 1.82 |
| Steven Matz | 1.88 |
| Seth Lugo | 2.19 |
| David Peterson | 2.91 |
| Tylor Megill | 3.5 |
| Christian Scott | 3.97 |
| Nolan McLean | 1.37 |
But as always, run prevention is the name of the game for starting pitching, and McLean is tops, just ahead of Syndergaard and Matz, in ERA.
With Brandon Sproat reportedly ready to join the rotation and Jonah Tong having impressed in his first start, the Mets’ youth movement is developing at an interesting time for the team. With just four starts under his belt, McLean looks like the best or second best option the Mets have in the starting rotation right now.
![The Mets try to put a tiger in their tank against the [checks notes] Tigers](https://glance-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/cardpress/binge-magazine-card-generation/spaces/US/en/sb-nation/images/ppid_2cf3d240-image-175673583043898182.webp)
