Inside The Mets

How Mets' top pitching prospect performed in Triple-A debut

Nolan McLean was stellar in his first Triple-A outing for the Mets on Friday.
Logan VanDine|
Mar 15, 2024; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean participates in the Spring Breakout game against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Mar 15, 2024; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean participates in the Spring Breakout game against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

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The New York Mets saw one of their top pitching prospects thrive in his Triple-A debut.

On Friday, starting pitcher Nolan McLean dominated in his first Triple-A start for the Syracuse Mets. The righty tossed seven scoreless innings against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, striking out seven batters and allowing just seven hits with no free passes. McLean's strong Triple-A debut comes after he strung together five stellar starts in Double-A for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, going 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA across 26.1 innings and 30 strikeouts, which resulted in him getting promoted to Triple-A on Tuesday.

McLean's stellar Triple-A debut should come as no surprise, as the 23-year-old is ranked as the Mets' No. 5 prospect according to MLB.com. He was initially drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft as a two-way player, with the Orioles intending to use him as a starting pitcher. He ultimately did not sign with the team and returned to Oklahoma State for his junior year.

Read More: New York Mets promote top pitching prospect to Triple-A Syracuse

The Amazins' drafted McLean in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft and signed with the club on July 15. The right-hander was sharp during his minor league tenure last year, pitching for both Single-A St. Lucie and in Binghamton. Despite posting a 4-10 record in 25 starts across Single-A and Double-A, McLean still recorded a 3.78 ERA across 109.2 innings of work with 116 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.26.

The Mets are now hoping that McLean can build off his sharp first outing at the Triple-A level and continue to develop with the other talented starting pitchers in New York's farm system, which already has the likes of Blade Tidwell and Brandon Sproat.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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