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McLean ended his excellent rookie season in style with seven strong innings here. Clean through four, he ran into some trouble in the fifth when a few hard-hit ground balls found holes and turned into two runs. After that, McLean breezed through two more frames and a well-timed home run by Marcus Semien in the eighth put him in line for his 12th win. Still, McLean struggled to miss bats and heavily leaned into his strong sinker, as he has over the last month or so. It forced tons of ground balls though and he finally had a good feel for his curveball. In the end, he hurled 179 2/3 innings, struck out 194 batters, and wound up with a 3.16 ERA.
The right-hander also issued three walks in the ballgame while striking out five. The lone tally against him came on an RBI infield single off the bat of Bryce Harper in the fifth inning. Unfortunately for McLean, that was enough to do him in as the Mets couldn’t scratch out a single run of support for him. He got just four whiffs on 82 pitches on the evening, posting a CSW of 26 percent. He’ll look to finish the season strong as he carries a terrific 3.18 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 189/69 K/BB ratio (172 2/3 innings) into Thursday’s battle against the Rangers in Arlington.
McLean wasn’t right from the jump in this start. His command was all over the place from the very first batter and it took a line drive that found a glove with the bases loaded and double play to hold the Yankees to just one in the first inning. Then, things got much worse in the second. He retired the first two batters he faced, but still wound up throwing 35 pitches and letting up three more runs in the frame. He was nearly out of the inning too before Ben Rice challenged what would’ve been a called third strike, got it reversed, and Cody Bellinger homered just after. It was the first home run McLean has given up as a big leaguer on his curveball as he just couldn’t make it move the way he wanted it to. By the end of that barrage, he’d allowed a hit to seven of the first 13 batters he faced. He rounded out through the middle innings though and saved his line some despite the damage already being done. This poor start was a crushing blow to McLean’s Rookie of the Year hopes and he’s scheduled to face the Phillies at home next time out.
Not much came easy for McLean in this one after the first couple of innings despite a solid final line. By the time he took the mound for the top of the third, the Mets had taken a 7-0 lead and things suddenly got a bit hairy. Over the next three frames, he walked three batters, gave up six hits, and was fortunate to only have two runs on his ledger. Then, he surprisingly came back out for the sixth inning already at 94 pitches despite those struggles and ended his outing with three quick outs. When he struck out Christian Koss to end his night, McLean let out a massive roar to his dugout. In the end, he tossed a career-high 105 pitches, has completed at least six innings in 13 of his last 14 starts, and left this start with a 3.06 ERA as he makes a late season charge for the Rookie of the Year award. He’s scheduled to face the Marlins in Miami next time out, but could be pushed back to face the Yankees in the Bronx as the Mets are potentially moving some parts around in their rotation.
McLean gave up a run in the first inning on a double and a sacrifice fly following a fielding error, making the run unearned. He then quieted the Astros’ lineup over six more scoreless frames, stranding three more runners while collecting four strikeouts. The 25-year-old right-hander will look to follow the dominant performance when he takes a 3.06 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and a 172/61 K/BB ratio across 155 2/3 innings into a start against the Giants in New York on Friday.
McLean walked four, but the White Sox could barely touch him in the 92-pitch outing. Alas, the Mets never scored while he was in the game and ended up losing 2-1, so he remained 9-8 with a 3.21 ERA. He’ll face the Astros next weekend.
McLean didn’t really deserve this win, but he can thank his outfielders. Carson Benge threw runners out at home on back-to-back singles in the first inning, and then A.J. Ewing cut down Xander Bogaerts at home in the second. That sequence saw seven consecutive batters reach base against McLean over the two innings, but just one run scored. McLean cleaned it up from there, allowing just one single and two walks over the remaining four innings. He’s now 9-8 with a 3.34 ERA, and he’s due to face the White Sox next.
The only hit that McLean allowed was a solo homer by Ozzie Albies in the fifth. It’s a hard-luck loss, but it’s at least somewhat worth pointing out this comes after McLean got a win despite allowing five runs against the Guardians in his last effort. The talented 23-year-old walked two, struck out three, and saw his ERA dip to 3.42 on the season. He’s set to face the Padres on Monday.
McLean managed just a 22 percent whiff rate and threw seven different pitches as he was apparently struggling to find a combination he could command today -- only 54 of his 94 pitches were strikes. The Guardians stacked left-handed bats against him -- lefty batters have a .701 OPS against McLean as compared to a .549 by right-handers -- and Nathaniel Lowe was able to launch a three-run homer to make the box score look ugly. McLean will look to rebound against the Braves next week.
McLean racked up six strikeouts on the evening while issuing a pair of walks. All of the damage done against him came on solo home runs — one by Kyle Stowers in the fourth and another off the bat of Jakob Marsee in the seventh. The 25-year-old hurler generated 10 swings and misses on 99 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll carry an impressive 3.29 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 148/45 K/BB ratio (125 2/3 innings) into Thursday’s battle against the Guardians in Cleveland.
McLean struck out seven and generated 16 whiffs on 40 swings. The unearned runs came in the third after a Brett Baty error, with a Francisco Alvarez passed ball also hurting the cause. However, McLean could have spared himself the unearned runs had he gotten to first just a little quicker on a potential 3-6-1 double play. He did make a good effort, but he was a tad slow to get off the mound at the start of the play. McLean dropped to 7-7 with a 3.32 ERA. He’ll face the Marlins on Thursday.
McLean gave up two hits, walked two and struck out 10. He improved to 7-6 with the win. McLean had been pitching well in his last three starts entering Sunday with only two runs allowed in 18 innings with 19 strikeouts. This time, he allowed only four baserunners. McLean has a 3.34 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Dodgers at home next weekend.
McLean was thrown into the fire right away when Juan Soto dropped a fly ball against the first batter of the game. Then, with two outs, Masataka Yoshida slapped a weak double just inside the third base line that got caught on the tarp and two unearned runs came around to score. From there, McLean slammed the door. Carson Benge helped him out by throwing out a runner at home plate, but McLean did well despite again not having great feel for either his curveball or sweeper. Without those to lean on, he found success buzzing his four seamer at the top of the zone and it forced six of his eight total swings-and-misses. While it’s felt uneasy at times, McLean will close the first half with a 3.52 ERA, 125 strikeouts, and 39 walks through 107 1/3 innings pitched.
The runs all came in the first, and that one was unearned was the product of McLean’s own errant pickoff throw. Rather surprisingly, McLean was sent back out for the seventh at 92 pitches. He gave up a single to Austin Riley and was pulled, but Brooks Raley got through the rest of the inning without issue. McLean has won four of his last five decisions and is now 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA. He struck out five and walked one today, and he has a nice 30/6 K/BB in his last four starts. He’ll next face the Red Sox on Friday.
McLean allowed just three hard-hit balls in his first scoreless start of the year. He’s previously allowed only one run five times, including 13 days ago against the Reds when the lone run he gave up was unearned. This makes him 5-5 with a 3.78 ERA ahead of next start Monday in Atlanta.
McLean threw four scoreless innings to start the game and then struck out the first two hitters of the fifth inning before he allowed a single to Pete Crow-Armstrong, a double to Michael Conforto, and a homer to Michael Busch. In the fifth inning, he allowed a one-out double to Nico Hoerner, an infield single to Miguel Amaya, and then another two-out home run to Dansby Swanson. On the day, McLean struck out nine, walked two, and posted an impressive 18 percent swinging strike rate and 36 percent CSW. He didn’t have great command of the four-seamer and sweeper, and a few poorly spotted pitches came back to bite him. He’ll face the Blue Jays on the road next.
McLean will have his scheduled start pushed back an extra day in the wake of Monday’s rainout at Citi Field. It also eliminates the possibility of a two-start week where he would’ve had to face the red-hot Phillies this weekend. It’ll be Sean Manaea taking the ball for the other contest during Wednesday’s twin bill before Freddy Peralta starts Thursday’s series finale.
The run came in the third after a Mark Vientos error and a double to left that a better outfielder than Juan Soto would have caught. It’s just McLean’s fourth victory, though it’s the 10th time this season he’s allowed two runs or fewer. With nine strikeouts today, he’s currently tied for seventh in the majors at 97 on the year. He’s due for home starts against the Cubs and Phillies next week.
In the midst of a frustrating set of starts, this one stands out as being particularly annoying. The Mets put up six runs in support of McLean over the first two innings and he still couldn’t hang on long enough to earn the win. His 42-pitch second inning was a huge reason for that. McLean gave up alternating hits and walks to the first five hitters he faced that frame to bring two runs in with the bases loaded and still nobody out. It was a pure Houdini act to get out of that without any more damage being done with plenty of help from Mauricio Dubón, who chased a 3-1 pitch out of the zone to pop-up and help neutralize the threat. Otherwise, the command of his often stellar breaking stuff remains choppy and he’s not putting away hitters – especially lefties – like he was earlier in the season. He’ll have another chance to right the ship next week against the Reds in Cincinnati.
McLean was solid again on Saturday, holding the Padres to one run over six frames. He scattered three hits and walked three batters while collecting five strikeouts. He’s now allowed one run in back-to-back starts after giving up a combined 13 over his previous two. The 24-year-old right-hander will take a 3.98 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and an 82/27 K/BB ratio across 71 1/3 innings into a start against the Braves in New York on Friday.
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