{"id":96370,"date":"2025-09-03T08:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370"},"modified":"2025-09-03T08:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:03:08","slug":"mets-nolan-mclean-pulls-off-eye-popping-feat-last-seen-in-1981-fernandomania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370","title":{"rendered":"Mets&#8217; Nolan McLean pulls off eye-popping feat last seen in 1981 Fernandomania"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/NMC.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"New York Mets starting pitcher Nolan McLean (26) reacts after the bottom of the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The New York Mets are heating up at the right time, and they have rookie pitcher Nolan McLean to thank. During Tuesday night\u2019s 12-5 win over the Detroit Tigers, the Mets rookie pitcher turned in another gem, drawing comparisons to one of the most iconic debuts in MLB history\u2014Fernando Valenzuela\u2019s legendary 1981 start.<\/p>\n<p>McLean became the first rookie pitcher since Valenzuela to start his career 4-0 with a sub-1.50 ERA and record at least 25 strikeouts over his first four career starts. It\u2019s a stat line so rare, it had remained untouched for over four decades.<\/p>\n<p>OPTAstats took to their X (formerly known as Twitter) platform to highlight the incredible achievement, sparking viral buzz and renewed hope in the Mets playoff race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNolan McLean of the @Mets is the second MLB pitcher to go 4-0 with a sub-1.50 ERA and 25+ strikeouts over his first 4 career starts (since ERA became official in both leagues in 1913)<\/p>\n<p>The other was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rookie pitcher\u2019s final line was impressive \u2014 6.0 innings with 7 strikeouts, 2 earned runs, 4 hits allowed, and 2 walks. After giving up two runs in the first inning, McLean responded by retiring 14 consecutive batters, showcasing poise far beyond his experience.<\/p>\n<p>Through four starts, McLean now sports a 1.37 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and a sub-1.00 WHIP across 26.1 innings. His dominance is helping anchor a rotation that has struggled with consistency from veterans like Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea.<\/p>\n<p>With the win, the club improved to 75-64, remaining 5.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East while building a 5.0-game cushion in the Wild Card race over the Cincinnati Reds. With 23 games left, they\u2019re tracking toward 88\u201389 wins\u2014right in the thick of October contention.<\/p>\n<p>The Mets standout rookie isn\u2019t just chasing wins\u2014he\u2019s chasing history. And as comparisons to Fernandomania grow louder, so does the hype surrounding what the 24-year-old could mean for New York this postseason and beyond.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York Mets rookie pitcher Nolan McLean matched a rare Fernando Valenzuela feat, boosting the club\u2019s playoff momentum as October approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":96371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,1045],"class_list":["post-96370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mets&#039; Nolan McLean pulls off eye-popping feat last seen in 1981 Fernandomania - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mets&#039; Nolan McLean pulls off eye-popping feat last seen in 1981 Fernandomania - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Mets rookie pitcher Nolan McLean matched a rare Fernando Valenzuela feat, boosting the club\u2019s playoff momentum as October approaches.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-03T08:03:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rinrin-8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370\",\"name\":\"Mets' Nolan McLean pulls off eye-popping feat last seen in 1981 Fernandomania - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rinrin-8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-03T08:03:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-03T08:03:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rinrin-8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rinrin-8.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96370#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mets&#8217; 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