Mets rookie compared to Paul Skenes by rival broadcast

An unexpected duo gave New York Mets rookie Nolan McLean his flowers by comparing him to one of baseball's best pitchers.

Aug 24, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

While New York Mets fans have known about rookie pitcher Nolan McLean for years now, he has just become a household name for the rest of the baseball community, given how he has fared in his first three MLB outings.

McLean currently boasts a 3-0 record with a minuscule 0.89 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched. In his most recent outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, McLean threw eight shutout innings while racking up six strikeouts and zero walks.

Read more: Yankees star asserts team is better off without Juan Soto

McLean isn't the NL's only rookie pitcher to impress when starting their MLB career this season, as Milwaukee Brewers flamethrowing righty Jacob Misiorowski was named an NL All-Star after just five starts.

If McLean had gone on this three-start run to begin his own career before this year's All-Star break rather than after it, it would have been fascinating to see whether he'd have also gotten selected.

Aug 27, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Nolan McLean (26) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Before Misiorowski's five games before earning an All-Star nod, the record for the shortest number of games before making an All-Star team belonged to Pittsburgh Pirates ace and 2025 NL Cy Young favorite, Paul Skenes, who earned this accolade after 11 MLB appearances in 2024.

Phillies Broadcaster Compares McLean to Skenes

McLean would surely be stoked any time someone mentioned him in the same sentence as Skenes. And this is exactly what happened on August 27, when NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcaster Tom McCarthy shared a strong stance about New York's rookie pitcher.

“What can you say?. Sometimes you face a pitcher that is absolutely dominant. And it doesn’t matter how the Phillies have struggled. Nolan McLean was dominant and would’ve been dominant, it seems, even against a hot Phillies team," McCarthy said after the Mets' 6-0 win, per an X post from @waxhobby_x.

Phillies play-by-play man John Kruk expanded on this sentiment by adding, “That young man is going to be a dang problem for every team he faces going forward in his career. His stuff is some of the best stuff I’ve seen all season.”

McCarthy added, “There's no doubt. We’ve seen Skenes twice. We’ve seen some other pitchers that were pretty dominant. But [McLean] was really dominant."

Hats off to @Phillies announcers John Kruk and Tom McCarthy for calling it like it is when it comes to @nolanmclean11. #Mets #NewYorkMets #NolanMcLean pic.twitter.com/vTXVQhVZGb

— GO METS (@waxhobby_x) August 28, 2025

This broadcast duo deserves props for being willing to prop McLean up moments after he blanked their team across eight innings.

Time will tell whether McLean will keep getting compared to Skenes as his career progresses. Perhaps it will even reach a point where Skenes is getting compared to him instead.