Nolan McLean, 24, became the first New York Mets starting pitcher to win each of his first three career starts after a dominant outing against the NL East–leading Philadelphia Phillies. He worked eight scoreless innings, allowed four hits, struck out six, issued no walks and threw 95 pitches. Manager Carlos Mendoza praised McLean’s electric stuff, pitchability and mound awareness. McLean relies on a six-pitch mix whose core includes a 95-mph four-seam, a 94.6-mph sinker and a sweeper with 15.8 inches of horizontal movement. Versus left-handers he shifts toward heavy curveball usage and an 86-mph cutter.
Everything about the kid, not only what we're seeing on the mound, but the way he carries himself. He's got electric stuff, but he has pitchability. He knows what he's doing on the mound, he knows how to manipulate the baseball, and he knows what hitters are trying to do to him. He's not afraid to use all of his pitches. His arsenal consists of six pitches an ever-dynamic mix that he can tweak and lean on depending on who is at the plate.
But his approach changes completely when facing left-handers. Of the 51 curveballs, which possess a mind-bending 19 inches of horizontal break to go with 13 inches of vertical break, 35 have come against lefties. He has an 86-mph cutter that he's thrown 18 times across his first three starts 17 of them came against lefties. Sixteen of the 18 changeups he's thrown have al
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