The spotlight shines bright on Nolan McLean as the Mets' new rotation anchor

Nolan McLean made a name for himself as a high school athlete in North Carolina. Like many top baseball prospects, he was a two-sport athlete and committed to Oklahoma State University to play both football and baseball. 

He redshirted his freshman year on the football team before ultimately focusing on just baseball. That move would pay off, as he was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2022 but did not sign and returned to OSU. 

The following year, he would catch on with the New York Mets. They drafted him as a two-way player in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft. 

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The spotlight shines bright on Nolan McLean as the Mets' new rotation anchor

Shortly after being drafted, McLean would focus solely on pitching. He spent the 2024 season in Double-A and played in Triple-A in 2025 before being called up in August. 

McLean was about as dominant as you could get. He put together a 5-1 record with a 2.06 ERA and 57 strikeouts on 48 innings of work. 

He will undoubtedly be with the club on Opening Day, and could serve as the team's ace with what he did last year. ESPN ranks him as the 100th-best player coming into the 2026 season, and Tristian H. Cockcroft projects him to have a monster season. 

"Season prediction: McLean runs away with the [NL Rookie of the Year Award], making 27 starts with a 3.13 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 176 strikeouts, and starts Game 2 of the Mets' wild-card series."

Cockcroft expects McLean not only to win the NL Rookie of the Year, but to run away with the award. Not only that, but he takes this a step further, predicting the hard-throwing righty will start a potentially win-or-go-home game for his club under the brightest lights. 

That's a ton of pressure to put on a young arm, but if anyone can do it, it's one of the guys representing Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

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