TORONTO -- For better and for worse, Nolan McLean has had about as uneven a season as any starting pitcher in baseball. Some nights, McLean is sharp, flashing the form that made him a Rookie of the Year favorite coming into this season. Other nights, he is confoundingly hittable.
Tuesday was one of the good nights for McLean, who didn’t allow a run over six innings in the Mets’ 3-0 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Relying heavily on his curveball, which can be McLean’s nastiest pitch when he’s controlling it properly, he generated four whiffs on that offering and 11 in total.
“That was, start to finish, as clean and dominant as he’s been all year,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said.
On the night, McLean allowed five hits and two walks, striking out seven. His best run of success came from the second through fourth innings, when he retired six consecutive batters. Otherwise, McLean worked around traffic without much issue, dialing his fastball up to 98 mph.
“That’s who he is,” Green said. “It’s been fun seeing him bounce back from a tougher stretch. He’s just mixing his pitches incredibly well. He’s got different ways to end at-bats. He was competitive the whole day. He was in the zone the whole day.”
The outing was only McLean’s second without an earned run all season, but both of those have come within the past two weeks. In between, he allowed six runs in a loss to the Cubs, showcasing the unpredictability that has defined his season.
“I’m just trying to get better every time I go out there -- find new things that work or old things that I kind of went away from that I should stick by,” McLean said. “It always just goes back to landing off-speed. I think that’s a big key for me. Anytime I can do that, keep guys off my fastball, that’s pretty good.”