McLean's masterful pitch movement a marvel as he piles up K's vs. D-backs

NEW YORK -- Early in his outing against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, Nolan McLean dropped a curveball into the strike zone at 3,451 revolutions per minute, breaking his own record for highest spin rate of any breaking ball this season.

Later in the game, McLean froze Ketel Marte on another breaker that prompted an immediate ABS review. The ball was a strike that had dropped 54 inches, or four and a half feet. Marte’s confusion was understandable.

McLean also threw multiple pitches that soared more than two feet from right to left, flummoxing a phalanx of flailing hitters. So otherworldly was McLean’s stuff that at one point, Mets play-by-play man Steve Gelbs mused, “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone throw stuff that moves in that way."

Neither, it would seem, had most D-backs. In that fashion, McLean continued his dominant start to the season, firing 6 1/3 strong innings with eight strikeouts at Citi Field. But it wasn’t enough for him to pick up his second win.

As soon as McLean departed with two men on, the D-backs came to life, tying the game on a Gabriel Moreno double off Luke Weaver and taking the lead on an Alek Thomas RBI fielder’s choice that sparked a four-run seventh, dropping the Mets to a 7-1 loss.

“It’s part of baseball at the end of the day,” McLean said. “I’m sure I’ll leave guys out there and our bullpen’s going to strand them for me plenty of times this year. It’s already been done actually this year, a couple times. It’s part of the game. It’s a long season. I know those guys have got my back out there.”

McLean’s only sin was his relative inefficiency; the rookie right-hander needed a career-high 100 pitches to record 19 outs. Otherwise, he was magnificent, allowing just three hits -- two of them singles -- and departing to a standing ovation.

At that point, McLean said, he still felt strong, which bodes well for future starts. But given the right-hander’s pitch count, manager Carlos Mendoza had no intention of leaving him in the game.

The early departure wound up having profound statistical consequences. When McLean exited, he had a 1.62 ERA. Two inherited runs jacked that number up to 2.70. Also of note, McLean owns the 14 highest spin rates on breaking balls this year, and 17 of the top 20.

“Curveball’s been feeling good,” McLean said. “It definitely felt good tonight, landing it for strikes rather than just a chase pitch for me. So I was excited to see that.”