IN FOCUS - Team ERA, Diaz, Canning, Tong, McLean, Megill, Soto,

 

Thomas Nestico

Team ERA

Pitch Profiler                      @pitchprofiler

oh my god he cooked today.

Griffin Canning can do it all!

 

Today, he held the dynamic Yankees lineup to just two runs. A great find by David Stearns—and even better development from Jeremy Hefner!

Thomas Nestico                 @TJStats

Nolan McLean – NYM 

McLean has stormed his way to AAA after transitioning to a full-time pitcher last season and the heels of a devastating sweeper. His combination of stuff, athleticism, command, and versatility, makes him very exciting!

TDStats - tjstats@substack.com

Jonah Tong

Jonah Tong is striking out the world in AA this season while doing a fantastic job at limiting damage on all his offerings. His cut-fastball leads the way here thanks to the incredible ride on the pitch. This season it is averaging ~19" iVB while sitting 94-96 MPH, which is +2 MPH harder than in 2024. His over-the-top delivery is a massive driver into its high riding nature. Thanks to his smaller stature and above-average extension, he is able to get down to a ~6 ft vertical release point. The combination of massive ride from an unorthodox release aides in its effectiveness.

Tong's secondaries are a big point of discussion regarding his future as a starter. He has a wide array of them, including a changeup, curveball, slider, and a new cutter. The development of his changeup this season has been imperative to his success against LHH. It sits in the mid 80s, showcasing good velocity differential from his fastball. The biggest changes have come in its shape as it is showcasing a lot more depth as well as his feel of the pitch. He has been excellent with both its consistency and control, which has pushed it from a below average offering to plus. His curveball may be his most memorable pitch thanks to its massive vertical difference from his fastball. It sits at 76-78 MPH and can reach -20” iVB. That is over 3’ of separation from his fastball! He commands the pitch well, but there are concerns that the massive drop on the pitch in the mid 70s may not fool Major League hitters. Tong's slider and cutter are his least used offerings and for good reason. He doesn't have the greatest feel for them, and each exhibit subpar movement traits.

Control still seems to be the biggest hurdle for Tong as he is struggling to throw strikes and get ahead of batters early in the count. His stuff is untouchable and his gaudy whiff rates and strong damage mitigation metrics back it up, however his inability to generate chases keeps his walk rate well below average. His fastball will make him a stud bullpen arm in a pinch, but he needs more time to refine its command before being a mainstay in the Mets rotation.

Substack -

carloscollazo@substack.com

Nolan McLean, RHP, Mets

Age: 23

I wish McLean stopped hitting years ago. He ranked as a top-200 player in the 2023 draft class not because of his impressive raw power as a hitter (which he has a ton of) but because of his insane arm talent. He was touching 98 mph and spinning multiple plus breaking balls with huge spin rates while coming out of the bullpen for Oklahoma State. In his first full season focused on pitching as a professional he’s posted a 1.88 ERA (3.54 FIP) through seven starts and 38.1 innings with a 25.9% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. His strike rate with the fastball is improved so far this season, and I think his delivery looks a bit more fluid and synced up. His slider was already one of the best breaking balls in them minors. Now he’s in Triple-A and knocking on the big league door.

Tyler Megill –

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6363189/2025/05/17/mets-tylor-megill-struggles-yankees/

Megill was pounded by the Yankees on Friday, submitting the shortest outing of the season (2 2/3 innings) by a traditional Mets starter in a 6-2 loss. He surrendered four runs in the third inning that included three hits, four walks, including one to force in a run, and another Francisco Lindor error.

“Four walks in an inning, that ain’t gonna cut it,” Megill said. “I’m putting myself in bad situations by falling behind. That’s the main thing, just getting ahead of hitters.”

“He lost the strike zone,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When you do that against an offense like this, they’re going to make you pay.”

Megill allowed four earned runs in his first 30 innings of the season. He’s yielded 14 in the last 14.

Megill’s tendency to fade isn’t necessarily tied to the calendar. It’s more that his first half-dozen starts of the season have often been his best.

Put that all together, and Megill’s ERA over his first six starts of any season is 2.78; afterward, it’s 5.62.

Juan Soto

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6363202/2025/05/17/yankees-mets-juan-soto/

“You miss Judge!”

“You miss Judge!”

“You miss Judge!”

At the rhythmic chanting of those three words, Soto half-turned to face the crowd beyond right field and appeared to make a heart gesture.

“We finally got to him,” said Milton Ousland, a regular Bleacher Creature in Section 203 since the 1980s and known as the “cowbell man” since 1996. “He knew the eff-him chants were coming. We had to do something different.”

In the top of the first inning alone, they started the same chant seven different times, each one louder than the last: “F— Juan Soto.”

The half-inning took just seven minutes.

“It’ll be interesting,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game.  “I’m sure there will be some creativity in there.”

After a “F— Juan Soto” chant — we’ll call them FJS chants for brevity (and decency) from here — in the first and second innings, fans busted out: “We got Grisham!” It’s a clever ode to when Trent Grisham filled in for Soto last year and heard chanting about how much Soto was missed. This season, Grisham has hit 12 home runs, four more than Soto. Now, they want Grisham, the fans repeated often.

“He’s lucky it’s not the old days,” Ousland said, cowbell in hand.

The FJS chants started well before first pitch. At 5:23 p.m., Soto heard them when he walked out to right field during batting practice. Only the first few rows in Section 106 beyond right field were filled at that time. That was enough for the chanting and loud boos. Soto didn’t linger, either. He stuck around just long enough to make a catch. Afterward, a fan yelled to him, “Congratulations on finally looking normal while making a routine catch.”

In Section 106, 21-year-old Cooper Hancock sat wearing a Yankees No. 22 jersey — a rarity on this night — with the word “Sellout” stapled on the back, atop the number.

Soto went 0-for-2 with a run and three walks. He made the game’s final out, a fly out with two runners in scoring position. By then, no FJS chanting was necessary.