Mets to call up Nolan McLean, will start Saturday against the Mariners
McLean, the club's third-ranked prospect, will replace Frankie Montas in the rotation for the time being
After removing Frankie Montas from their starting rotation on Tuesday, the Mets chose to replace him with a top pitching prospect.
According to SNY, the Mets will call up RHP Nolan McLean to make a start against the Mariners on Saturday at Citi Field.
Once a two-way player, McLean, 24, has surged through the minor league ranks in 2025. He began his season with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, making five starts and pitching to a 1.37 ERA with 30 strikeouts and 12 walks over 26.1 IP before being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. Since being elevated to Triple-A, McLean has a 2.78 ERA in 16 appearances and 13 starts, striking out 97 batters against 38 walks over 97.1 IP. He is the club’s third-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com.
In total, McLean has a 2.45 ERA between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse over 113.2 IP this season. He threw 109.2 IP in 2024, meaning he could have less than 30 innings remaining before he hits the +30 IP load management threshold clubs tend to use.
Even so, the Mets were left with very little choice outside of choosing to promote Brandon Sproat, who is also approaching a theoretical innings cap for the season. The Mets will likely proceed judiciously with McLean and Sproat as they look to get him through the remainder of the season, whether both finish their season in the major leagues or not. The promotion of either or both is arguably long overdue considering the state of their rotation.
Still, the Mets selecting McLean comes as no surprise following the club’s decision to demote Montas, who had struggled to a 6.38 ERA over eight appearances and seven starts for the Mets after being activated from the injured list in late June. The Mets signed Montas to a one-year $17 million guaranteed contract, but Montas has a $17 million player option he can exercise following the 2025 season, something he appears likely to do after what has been a lost season for him with the Mets.
Stearns did sort of slyly indicate a few weeks ago when discussing pitching in relation to Holmes building work load that the organization has kind of passed on the idea that innings and pitch counts can accomplish holding off injuries. That does not mean they would go hog wild, but I think they are going to follow the results.
I didn't think about the fact that our minor leaguers were approaching a pitch limit. Mets in a bind anyway. Looks like on retrospect not getting a starter is gonna bite us no?? I know it's not easy but....we needed one...a workhorse