Nolan McLean gives Mets 'missing' energy in stellar MLB debut - ESPN

NEW YORK — The Mets, as manager Carlos Mendoza put it, did not need Nolan McLean to play hero in his major league debut Saturday. They just wanted a good start, an outing that would give New York a chance to beat the Seattle Mariners and maybe, finally, ignite a turnaround after two-plus dismal months of baseball.

McLean did not put on a cape, but he delivered what the Mets needed, striking out eight hitters and flashing clutch leather over 5⅓ scoreless innings in the team's 3-1 win at Citi Field. The victory, the Mets' third in 17 games, snapped a three-game losing streak. Thanks to McLean's presence, it was accompanied by an amplified energy that was absent from the ballclub in recent weeks as the Mets played Whac-A-Mole, losing games in every which way possible.

«Definitely something that maybe we were missing,» Mendoza said of McLean, the Mets' No. 3 prospect according to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel. «Especially with how hard this stretch has been. We definitely felt it today.»

McLean, 24, a right-hander noted for his elite ability to spin the baseball, arrived in Queens on Friday to acclimate himself to his surroundings. The Mets, needing to clear a roster space for him, designated veteran Paul Blackburn for assignment after Friday's dispiriting 11-9 series-opening loss. On Saturday, McLean became the 43rd pitcher to take the mound for the Mets this season, a franchise record and just three shy of setting the major league record. He looked like he belonged.

«Pretty impressive,» Mendoza said. «I mean, unbelievable. Pretty much everything that we've heard about him, the reports that we kept getting about him. Mound presence. Demeanor. Attack. The way he uses all of his pitches.»

McLean struck out Randy Arozarena looking at