Reese Kaplan -- Is the Mets New Pitcher Too Little Too Late?

Come tomorrow “Cowboy Ohtani” will make his major league debut in his first MLB start against the Baltimore Orioles as the Mets reach into their farm system to try to inject life into an increasingly vulnerable pitching staff.  Two-way college star Nolan McLean earned that nickname by clubbing 19 HRs while hitting for a .500 average while also working from the mound where he struck out 39 batters in 25 innings pitched.  Originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, they ran gun shy after he had an MRI and that enabled the Mets to latch onto him.

His rookie ball and first go at AA did not suggest any future dominance as a pitching-only rookie prospect.  He finished 2024 with a 4.19 ERA and control problems, but apparently the Mets development team saw something they could fix and 2025 has been truly dominant for him.

Starting the year in Binghamton he went 3-1 with a sparkling 1.37 ERA accompanied by over a strikeout per inning pitched.  On May 6th the Mets organization promoted him to higher competition in Syracuse at AAA and while the numbers regressed a little bit, they still are pretty eye popping.  The 24 year old right hander has gone 5-4 in the NY state capitol with a 2.78 ERA, a shiny 1.100 WHIP and an even higher strikeout rate than he achieved at lower levels of the minors.

To make room for McLean the Mets already made one move demoting Justin Hagenman after his 4 inning stint earlier this week which let them bring Paul Blackburn back but positioning him in the now vacant spot in the bullpen.  Blackburn debuted in the horrific Atlanta Braves game, finishing it up with 5 innings pitched and having given up 2 runs.  That performance for Blackburn was highly unexpected though his rehab metrics were indeed impressive.

Come this weekend the Mets must make another personnel room to open up the spot for McLean.  Frankie Montas has been informed he’s moving out of the rotation into the pen after struggling badly since returning from the IL. 

Looking down the list of available sacrifices for McLean promotion, it would seem that it comes down to the poor pitching of Ryne Stanek, the poorer pitching of Frankie Montas or an unexpected move for Mets veterans Brooks Raley, Reed Garrett (coming off a terrible stint in that same Braves debacle) or Edwin Diaz.  We assume all of the late coming bullpen arrivals obtained during July are safe as well.  As a betting man I’d say it’s cleaner to jettison Stanek since the team is on the hook for the 2027 salary of Montas already.  Blackburn theoretically could also go as he’s a FA at year’s end, but right now his strong performance on Wednesday probably breathed life into his remaining 2025 Mets career.

Regardless of the personnel merry-go-round, everyone is anxious to get a look at fresh blood for the pitching rotation.  Nearly everyone in it has stumbled recently (some more than others) and if the Mets preserve any hope at all of closing the now 5 game mountain the club must climb to pull even with the division leading Phillies then they need some changes that could have been made back during the June Swoon but finally are taking place after the midway point in August.