If the Major League Baseball regular season ended today, the New York Mets would travel to San Diego for a best two out of three Wild Card Series against Manny Machado and the Padres. New York is five games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.
The Mets have a four-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds for the last postseason spot, and rising pitching prospect Jonah Tong will make his MLB debut on Friday night against the Miami Marlins. Tong and his teammate, fellow rookie pitcher Nolan McLean, will play a key role in the Mets‘ starting rotation in September.
McLean, promoted from Triple-A Syracuse on August 16, is already turning heads across the league with a nasty pitch mix and a trio of dominant outings in his first three MLB starts.
Should Nolan McLean Get the Nod in Game 1 of the Playoffs?
On August 29, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller predicted that McLean would take the mound for the Mets in their first postseason game.
Much like Jacob Misiorowski’s triumphant arrival in June, New York’s Nolan McLean has been an instant sensation just three starts into his career, punctuated by an eight-inning gem against the Phillies on Wednesday,” wrote Miller.
Save for Ronald Acuña Jr. tattooing one to dead center off him, McLean has been almost flawless, with a cumulative pitching line of 20.1 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 21 K. He completely shut down both the Mariners and the Phillies, both of which could be previews of what’s to come in October.
If not McLean, lefty David Peterson is the best option to be the ace of the Mets’ pitching staff, thanks to inconsistent performances from Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea. Peterson became a first-time All-Star this year and allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his last five starts.
Senga returned from the injured list on July 11, but an inability to pitch deep into games may hurt the Mets‘ bullpen come the postseason. Manaea sat out the first 96 games of the year thanks to a right oblique strain and has a 5.01 ERA in his first nine appearances (eight starts) of the year.
Mets’ Carlos Mendoza Should Consider Nolan McLean
The Mets will need their best pitcher on the mound to have a strong chance in the first round of the postseason. That statement may be obvious, but there is no explicit ace of New York’s rotation right now.
McLean’s sample size is small, but he’s held opponents to a .136 batting average against his sinker and .250 batting average against his sweeper, the two pitches he throws the most. One of the Padres’ best hitters, Fernando Tatis Jr., is hitting .199 against breaking pitches in 2025. McLean could have the advantage in a potential matchup against Tatis and the Padres in a Wild Card round.
“It’s likely that the 24-year-old’s next two starts will come on the road against Detroit and Philadelphia,” wrote Miller. “And if McLean continues to shove against those teams, don’t you just about have to put him out there in the first game of the postseason?”
McLean completed eight scoreless innings with six strikeouts and four hits allowed in a 6-0 win against the Phillies on Wednesday.
Mets’ Rookie Predicted to Be Ace of Rotation in Postseason