Why Mets’ Nolan McLean Didn’t Report to Team USA

Mets' starter Nolan McLean will be late reporting to Team USA in the World Baseball Classic due to vertigo-like symptoms.

Sep 25, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) throws the ball against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Players around Major League Baseball have started to leave their teams' spring training camps for the World Baseball Classic. The New York Mets are among that group, but right-hander Nolan McLean hasn't departed for his Team USA duties yet after feeling a bit under the weather over the weekend.

Carlos Mendoza shares that Nolan McLean developed vertigo-like symptoms, which is why he didn't report to Team USA

He will pitch tomorrow on the back fields, and if all goes well, he'll join Team USA later this week pic.twitter.com/fQ5JMaP1tG

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 3, 2026

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told the media on Tuesday morning that McLean has experienced vertigo-like symptoms, so he is still in Port St. Lucie to get evaluated. The current plan is for McLean, who made his spring training debut last week, to throw on the back fields tomorrow and report to Team USA later in the week if that goes well.

Nolan McLean is not with Team USA yet because he had vertigo-like symptoms. They've subsided.

— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) March 3, 2026

The symptoms have since subsided, which is good news for McLean as he works to get ready for his duties with Team USA and the season as a whole. USA manager Mark DeRosa announced his rotation plans for group play on Tuesday, and McLean is currently slated to start against Italy on March 10th as long as he is good to go health-wise.

Logan Webb, Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, and Nolan McLean will be Team USA's starters for the first four games of the WBC, per @BNightengale pic.twitter.com/5GLX0SpchU

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 2, 2026

How Nolan McLean And Clay Holmes Fit Into Team USA's Pitching Plans

The loss of Twins' ace Joe Ryan to a back issue created an opening in the USA's rotation for McLean, who will join San Francisco's Logan Webb and the reigning Cy Young award winners, Detroit's Tarik Skubal and Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes, in the starting group. Skubal is slated to make just one start in group play before returning to the Tigers, so there could be an opportunity for McLean to pitch in an elimination game if the USA advances deep enough into the tournament.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic shared more of Team USA's pitching plans, which will see DeRosa look to piggyback starters in the earlier rounds of the tournament to avoid running out of pitching due to pitch restrictions in the tournament and requests from the players' parent clubs. One of the options to piggyback a starter is Holmes, who has bullpen experience in the past and did some of that with the Mets at the end of the 2025 regular season.

The World Baseball Classic is set to run from March 5-17, with the elimination rounds beginning on March 13. Team USA is favored to get through Group C and advance to the quarterfinals, meaning there is a good chance that both McLean and Holmes will be away from camp until close to the start of the regular season.

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