Nolan McLean hit the ground running in 2026. As I mentioned in his initial Prospect Spotlight post, McLean debuted at the end of 2025, making 8 starts, going 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA. He represented Team USA in this year’s World Baseball Classic, where he got roughed up a bit, posting a 6.48 ERA in 7.2 innings, but nevertheless, wearing the stars and stripes on his chest was a huge accomplishment for the 24-year-old Mets rookie.

In 2026, Nolan McLean has shown the flashes of brilliance we expected. One particular start that stood out to me was on April 14th when he went toe-to-toe with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers. McLean and Yamamoto both dueled to the bitter end, and the former went seven innings, allowing just two hits, one earned run and 8 strikeouts. Yamamoto was just as good, and the Dodgers outlasted the Mets 2-1.

Known for his filthy off-speed stuff and the ability to rack up strikeouts, McLean has garnered 135 such strikeouts on the year, including a 10 K shutout performance against the division rival Philadelphia Phillies on July 19th.

On the year McLean is 7-6 with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Those latter two numbers are good enough to rank McLean in the Top 20 in those categories, with his 135 Ks ranking 8th in the entire league. He is holding opposing hitters to a .202 average, which is the 3rd-lowest mark in the National League. McLean is also averaging 10.72 K/9, which is good for the 4th-most in the NL, trailing only Jacob Misiorowski, Jesus Luzardo and Paul Skenes.

The point of all of those numbers is clear: during a New York Mets season that can only be described as…horrible, Nolan McLean has been one of the few bright spots. His numbers probably should have been good enough to earn him an NL All-Star selection, but alas, for a Mets team that limped into the All-Star break at 40-57, it’s not at all surprising that Juan Soto was the lone representative for New York.

Back in March, I said, ‘McLean has already positioned himself as a potential ace for the Mets staff in 2026’, and now here we are in July (as I’m writing this), and that could be the truth sooner than I anticipated. By the time this article hits the site, the trade deadline will have come and gone, and there’s a good chance that the Mets move Freddy Peralta at the deadline. If so, McLean becomes the definitive marquee guy.

Nolan McLean’s talent and arsenal will take him far in this league, and if Steve Cohen can ever realize that chemistry matters and you can’t spend big bucks on just whoever and hope it works, then there’s no reason that McLean can’t go far with the Mets, but since Cohen became the majority owner of the team, the Mets have largely been defined by the phrase, ‘all flash, no substance’.