Even some bright afternoon sun couldn’t purge the Mets of their pitching woes.
Rookie Nolan McLean struggled to finish his outing once again, allowing six runs and six hits in his final two innings in an eventual 10-3 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader.
The right-hander said he felt like he pitched well for most of the game but had trouble getting out of the fifth inning and gave up easy hits in the sixth.
“I made some good players make some good swings today, and got burned on that homer there in the sixth,” McLean said.
Through the first four innings, McLean looked like the player who started for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
He said the feeling carried over from his last start against the Reds, when he gave up one run on three hits.
That momentum could have been a reason manager Carlos Mendoza decided to keep McLean in after giving up three runs in the fifth.
The other, Mendoza said, was that he trusted the rookie to get through the inning after two early outs.
Regardless of the reasoning, McLean hasn’t been the stud many thought he would be this season, and pressure is rising on Mendoza after another questionable outing.
The 24-year-old said the outside noise and the 34-45 record aren’t adding any pressure. He continues to “treat every start the same.”
Perhaps there’s less pressure on McLean because the entire Mets pitching staff has been struggling this season.
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They have given up the 14th-most runs in MLB (361) and 40 in the past four games.
“The season is definitely testing our mental fortitude,” McLean said. “Each day, we’re all having conversations with each other, figuring out how we can each get better.”
