Nolan McLean Deserves a Shot in Weakened Mets Rotation

With the New York Mets in the midst of their worst losing streak since 2023, they need a reliable starter while Kodai Senga is recovering from his hamstring strain, and Sean Manaea is still rehabbing from his oblique strain. They plan on Frankie Montas making his first start as a Met on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves. The problem is that Montas has been terrible in his rehab appearances, posting a 12.05 ERA in six games.

The team has no idea what they will get from him, and with David Peterson being the only starter to go deep into games, they can’t afford more short starts. This is where top pitching prospect Nolan McLean should come into play, even though he likely will not.

Why Should Nolan McLean Come Up?

McLean has been dominant in the minor leagues this season. The 23-year-old started this season in Double-A, but got called up to Triple-A after just five starts due to his elite 1.37 ERA. Since then, in seven games, he’s pitched to a 2.56 ERA in 38 2/3 innings. While the ERA is impressive by itself, the most important aspect of McLean’s game is the innings he gives. In his 12 games this season, he has only thrown fewer than five innings twice. The most recent time was a relief appearance in which he pitched the final four innings of a game.

#Mets right-hander Nolan McLean enters the Top 100 Prospects list as Kumar Rocker graduates.

More on the former two-way and two-sport star with a 2.08 ERA at the two highest levels of the Minors in 2025: https://t.co/Tut7oIbBzG pic.twitter.com/oTpWDjCOmh

https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1934760585436033086?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1934760585436033086%7Ctwgr%5E95c2be2373b06dcb998fc61038fdd4b34c29b7c4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flastwordonsports.com%2Fbaseball%2F2025%2F06%2F21%2Fnolan-mclean-deserves-shot-weakened-mets-rotation%2F

While this does not guarantee success at the big league level, it should at least mean he gets a chance. The Mets ended up using Blade Tidwell in a spot start on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Tidwell lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs. He was coming off an appearance on June 15th where he also pitched just 3 2/3 innings, and gave up six earned runs. Even in his appearance before that on the 10th, while he went five innings, he gave up three earned runs. He hadn’t started a game since June 4th. An argument can certainly be made that the Mets did not put Tidwell in a position for success.

Nolan McLean Deserves a Shot in Weakened Mets Rotation — 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-USA TODAY Sports

Why Hasn’t He Been Called Up?

McLean is not on the 40-man roster. This means that a pitcher would have to be designated for assignment for him to be added to the roster and called up. While this may seem like a reasonable explanation on the surface, it’s less reasonable when you look at some of the pitchers on the Mets roster, in particular, journeymen relievers Ty Adcock and Chris Devenski. Neither reliever has had a large role on the team, and both are seemingly replaceable. DFAing one of them does not even guarantee that they will be off the roster, as they could clear waivers.

Despite this, the Mets opted for Tidwell, who is already on the 40-man roster, and the result speaks for itself. This is not to say that Tidwell is incapable of contributing. Even in his disappointing start against Philadelphia, he showed that he has big league quality stuff. However, based on both Tidwell and McLean’s recent outings, it was evident that McLean was in a much better spot for success.