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Nolan McLean Gets Jabbed by Mets Teammate After WBC Loss

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean had to hear it from one key teammate after losing in the World Baseball Classic.
Grant Young|
New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean
New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean | John Jones-Imagn Images

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New York Mets rookie ace Nolan McLean got an opportunity to perform on the biggest stage of his career with Team USA during the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

McLean got the ball for two starts with the USA squad. The first one was against Team Italy in the final round of group play on March 10. The 24-year-old gave up 3 earned runs on 2 hits (both of which were home runs), 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts on 3 innings pitched. Team USA ultimately lost this game by a score of 8-6, which made McLean the losing pitcher and forced him to face criticism he hadn't dealt with to that point in his professional career.

This performance didn't keep USA manager Mark DeRosa from giving McLean the ball again for his team's championship game against Venezuela. He threw 4.2 innings and gave up 2 earned runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, and added 1 strikeout in 63 pitches.

United States pitcher Nolan McLean (26)
United States pitcher Nolan McLean (26) | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Unfortunately, Team USA's offense was stagnant for essentially the entire game, and they lost in the championship by a score of 3-2. This meant McLean was the starting pitcher for both of the USA's losses in this year's World Baseball Classic.

Nolan McLean Laughs About Francisco Alvarez's World Baseball Classic Banter

While Mets starting catcher Francisco Alvarez didn't compete for Venezuela in this year's World Baseball Classic, he takes a lot of pride in being Venezuelan.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

And it sounds like McLean got to experience his starting backstop's national pride when he returned to the Mets' spring training facility on March 19.

"Yeah. As soon as he walked in today, he was yelling all over the place. As good as it was to see him, it kind of ruined it for me," McLean said with a laugh while talking about Alvarez, per an X post from SNY.

When asked whether he said anything to Alvarez, he added, "Um, no, I haven't seen him yet. But it was, yeah, Alvy got me good this morning. I guess it was this morning. But yeah, like I said, as good as it was to see Alvy, he came in yelling at me this morning. But it's good to be back, for sure."

While New York's roster was focused on their respective countries for much of this spring, it will be great to see them come together once Opening Day arrives.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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