NEW YORK -- In a stunning debut campaign in 2025, one of the few stains on Nolan McLean was his final start against the Cubs on Sept. 25, when he gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings and allowed three home runs (despite notching 11 strikeouts and escaping with the win). Early in Game 1 of the Mets’ split doubleheader vs. Chicago at Citi Field on Wednesday, it seemed as though he was on his way to righting that previous wrong -- allowing just three baserunners while striking out five batters through the first three innings.
However, McLean ran into trouble at the tail-end of his start. After the Mets took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back home runs from Jared Young (two-run blast) and Francisco Alvarez, McLean allowed Pete Crow-Armstrong to reach in the top of the fifth with two outs. He immediately gave up an RBI double to former Met Michael Conforto, then a two-run home run to Michael Busch on a low-and-inside cutter to tie the game.
The same two-out doldrums struck again in the sixth inning: With runners on first and third, McLean left a 95.5 mph fastball down the middle to Dansby Swanson, who turned it around for a Statcast-projected 400-foot home run. McLean finished the day by punching out Crow-Armstrong, closing the book on another outing that quickly unraveled for a Mets starter. The right-hander allowed six runs on seven hits in the 10-3 loss, giving up two walks while striking out nine.
“In the fifth, I felt like I made some pretty good pitches, and they put good swings on good pitches -- which happens sometimes,” McLean said. “I think it was all with two outs, too, which is pretty frustrating. Sixth inning: Gave up two weak-contact base hits. Just got to find a way to kind of avoid the home run there.”
The stumble to the finish line stopped the momentum built from McLean’s previous start, when he looked dominant against the Reds with nine strikeouts and just one unearned run allowed in seven innings. The signs for promising carryover were there: McLean notched three strikeouts in the first frame against the Cubs, on his way to producing 19 whiffs (at a 40% rate, well above his season mark of 24%).
“The stuff felt pretty good today,” McLean said. “Some good players made some good swings today, and I got burned on that homer there in the sixth -- but overall, felt pretty good.”
And for a floundering rotation group that has seen its collective ERA balloon to 4.94 (27th in the Majors), McLean’s latest blip near the end feels especially ill-timed -- partly because it seemed as though he had been reclaiming his stable early-season status, allowing just four runs (three earned) over his first three starts in June (17 innings).
“Yeah, I mean the season is definitely testing our mental fortitude, for sure,” McLean said. “Each day we’re all having conversations with each other, figuring out how we can each get better, trying to see what each other is doing that we might not be noticing with ourselves.”
The front-side of the doubleheader handed the Mets their fourth straight loss, dropping them to 11 games below .500 and even further back of the NL East-leading Braves.
But the beauty of a doubleheader is that there’s a chance to immediately change your fortune. And for the Mets, who announced that Francisco Lindor would return from his strained left calf injury for Game 2, the opportunity to get things going in the right direction can’t come soon enough.
“It’s tough,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Obviously there’s frustrations from all of us in here, but we got another one coming up pretty soon. I think the last thing we want is to sit here and start feeling sorry for ourselves. You have to punch back. You got to find a way to punch back and keep going, you got to get back up.
“But it’s not easy right now.”