After a three-up, three-down first inning, Nolan McLean’s recent control struggles continued in the Mets’ 7-5 win over the Braves on Friday night at Citi Field.
The right-handed pitcher lasted just four innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, and four walks. He threw 93 pitches.
The 24-year-old once again struggled “to land off-speed pitches.”
Of the 33 times McLean threw to the strike zone against Atlanta, only seven were off-speed pitches.
“I think the biggest thing is getting different pitches in the zone,” McLean said after his last outing against the Padres. “It’s much easier to hit when you know one pitch is going to be a strike and the other one isn’t. That’s been the main focus.”
The worst display of McLean’s struggles was the second inning, when three walks led to a 42-pitch inning and almost an early night for the starter.
Both the pitcher and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said no one prepares for 40-50 pitches in an inning, and one more batter likely would have meant pulling McLean.
“Talking to Nolan after the second inning, he had a break, we had a long one offensively,” Mendoza said. “If we had a quick three outs there, I don’t think Nolan goes back in.”
All things considered, McLean got out of the inning with minimal damage, allowing just two earned runs despite the bases being loaded with one out.
He said it was just a matter of competitiveness and throwing whatever was working to get past the fatigue.
McLean is in the middle of his first big league stutter after starting the season on fire.
Entering Friday, he had 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings, a .202 batting average against, 1.11 WHIP and a 3.98 ERA.
His strikeouts and batting average against ranked first among all qualified rookies and top 10 in the National League.
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Nevertheless, the last four outings for McLean have been his highest in WHIP, ERA and batting average against since his first start of the season.
A grinding team win, thanks to a grinding inning from McLean could be a slight confidence booster he needs to get back to competing for Rookie of the Year honors.
In his final two innings he settled down a bit, allowing one hit, one walk, and one strikeout.
