As the Mets look to their future, the starting rotation is a good place to begin.
By 6 p.m. Monday, the roster is likely going to look very different. A number of veterans are expected to be shipped out for prospects — the product of this disastrous season in Queens.
But the young guys on the mound are going to mostly be the same. Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton — three bright spots in this bleak season — have given fans a reason to think that maybe tomorrow won’t be as dark as today.
McLean kept the good vibes of the trio going Thursday, registering his eighth straight start of at least six innings, and the rookie has held the opposition to two earned runs or fewer in seven of those starts.
Luis Robert Jr., one of many Mets who may be gone come Monday, drove in two runs with an eighth-inning single as the Mets won for the fourth time in five games, 4-2 over the Marlins in front of 25,774 at Citi Field.
Devin Williams pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 19 chances.
It wasn’t enough for McLean to earn his eighth victory of the season — the late Mets rally made a winner out of Brooks Raley, who delivered 1 ²/₃ innings of scoreless relief — but it continued his upward trend. At this point, with the season well beyond saving, the youngsters producing is almost as important as wins.
And the three young starters have been by far the Mets best starters of late. Thornton has pitched to a 2.43 ERA in five starts and has won consecutive decisions.
Scott, coming off Tommy John surgery, has a 2.99 ERA in 15 outings and is eighth in baseball in strikeout percent at 28.8.
Then there is McLean, so impressive after an August call-up a year ago. He began the year well, then hit a rough patch. He had a 6.10 ERA in May. He’s been a different pitcher over the last two months. His walks are down and his strikeouts are up.
The Mets didn’t get their first hit until the fifth, a well-struck Marcus Semien single. They had two more in the sixth that helped them produce two runs off Eury Pérez. Francisco Lindor drove home Francisco Alvarez, went to third on a Bo Bichette single and scored on Graham Pauley’s two-out fielding error.
McLean made only two mistakes, and paid for both of them. A flat changeup wound up in the seats down the right field line in the fourth, Kyle Stowers’ 15th homer of the season.
In the seventh, McLean grooved a 3-0 fastball, and Jacob Marsee pulled the Marlins even at 2-2. He went 6 ¹/₃ innings, allowed six hits and struck out six. He walked two — both in the first inning.
