The New York Mets will name up prime pitching prospect Nolan McLean to make his MLB debut on Saturday, studies SNY’s Andy Martino. He’ll step into the rotation spot vacated by Frankie Montas’ transfer to the bullpen. Jon Heyman of the New York Publish reported earlier Wednesday morning that righty Paul Blackburn was additionally headed to the bullpen when he’s able to be reinstated from the injured checklist, setting the stage for both McLean or fellow prospect Brandon Sproat to make his debut.
As we famous on Tuesday, when the Mets moved Montas to the ’pen, the Saturday begin aligns much better with McLean’s flip within the Triple-A rotation than with that of Sproat. McLean has additionally outpitched Sproat this season, although each well-regarded prospects have excelled just lately.
The timing of the transfer possible isn’t a coincidence. Saturday marks the primary day on the calendar the place there’s not sufficient time remaining for gamers to accrue sufficient service to exhaust their rookie eligibility. By ready till Saturday to advertise McLean, the Mets have ensured that he’ll nonetheless qualify as a rookie subsequent season and due to this fact nonetheless be capable of earn the Mets’ potential future draft picks by way of the league’s Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) program. In all probability, McLean is only one of a number of prime prospects across the league who’ll be promoted after Aug. 15.
McLean, 24, was the Mets’ third-round decide in 2023. He’s rated as one of many system’s extra promising younger arms since that choice, however his inventory has exploded in 2025 as he’s ripped by Double-A and Triple-A lineups. McLean has pitched a mixed 113 2/3 innings between these two ranges and compiled a tidy 2.45 ERA whereas punching out 27.2% of his opponents. His 10.7% stroll fee continues to be too excessive, however his large 54.7% ground-ball fee might help to erase a number of of these free passes by means of the double-play ball.
This 12 months’s terrific run has not solely vaulted McLean towards the highest of the Mets’ in-house prospect lists — it’s made him a consensus top-100 prospect within the sport. He sits thirty seventh amongst all large league prospects at MLB.com, fortieth at Baseball America and 53rd at FanGraphs on every outlet’s post-deadline reranking of the game’s prime younger skills.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound McLean is an Oklahoma State product whose athleticism attracts loads of reward. He was a two-sport star in highschool, enjoying each baseball and soccer, and he was a two-way participant at OSU, the place he was a 3rd baseman and outfielder along with his work on the mound. He’s since dialed in solely on pitching and skilled an uptick in velocity, now sitting 95 mph with a four-seamer that may climb to 98 mph when he wants to succeed in again for a bit further. MLB.com’s report on McLean calls his sweeper a “monster” of a pitch with “elite” spin fee. He’s sitting 85.5 mph with that pitch and likewise mixing in a sinker, cutter and seldom-used changeup.
As a result of McLean will retain rookie eligibility going into subsequent 12 months, he may earn the Mets a draft decide down the road. If McLean have been to win Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr or end top-three in NL MVP voting subsequent season, the Mets would acquire that decide. Even when McLean doesn’t hit both of these targets, the truth that he’ll be a top-100 prospect who accrued a full 12 months of service as a rookie opens a three-year window for him to internet the Mets a compensatory decide primarily based on award voting. If McLean have been to land any top-three end in Cy Younger or MVP voting earlier than reaching arbitration, the Mets would nonetheless acquire a decide. Gamers can solely internet their staff one decide beneath the league’s PPI program, however the timing of his promotion means McLean may achieve this at any level from 2026-28.
Setting apart the PPI facet of the promotion, McLean’s promotion comes at a time when he can’t accrue a 12 months of service this season. He’ll be controllable for no less than six full years past the present marketing campaign — probably greater than that, relying on whether or not he’s optioned at any level sooner or later. The earliest he may turn out to be a free agent could be after the 2031 season, and the earliest McLean may qualify for arbitration could be following the 2028 season.
