McLean set to face red-hot Padres for 2nd time this season
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NEW YORK – Mets right-hander Nolan McLean is in his first full season in the big leagues and is already the team’s No. 1 starter, but he is not an ace yet.
In fact, while interim manager Andy Green praised McLean for having a solid season (8-8 with a 3.42 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 136 2/3 innings), the Mets want McLean to reach the highest bar possible – the next level of greatness.
“I think Nolan can be one of the best three to five pitchers in Major League Baseball. That’s the bar we want to see him get to,” Green said. “When you say he has been good, you are proud of the way he has handled his first go-round through this league.
“It’s also with the expectation that there is more and that he can continue to get better. When an outing ends, he will analyze everything he did, but he is also going to be a competitor on the next turn, go out there and compete again [on the mound].”
McLean will be competing against the Padres on Monday night at Citi Field. It will mark the second time he faces San Diego this season. The previous outing came in a 3-2 loss on June 6 at Petco Park. He picked up a no-decision, but allowed only one run in six innings.
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In his most recent outing against the Braves last Tuesday, McLean had another quality start in a 4-0 loss. He allowed one run on one hit and two walks in six innings.
His only blemish was allowing a homer to second baseman Ozzie Albies, who jumped on an 0-2 fastball in the fifth inning to record the game’s first run.
“It was fairly executed,” McLean said of the home run pitch. “I wasn’t trying to really punch him by any means for the strikeout there, but I would have liked it slightly more elevated. He made a good swing on a pitch that was pretty close to the outside corner, so I tip my cap.”