Mets Turn to Nolan McLean in Subway Series Finale Against Yankees
The Mets, wrapping up a disappointing season, send 25-year-old ace Nolan McLean to the mound against the Yankees, who are chasing the best record in the American League and getting key pieces back from injury.
The New York Mets will hand the ball to their brightest young arm on Sunday as they look to take another game from the crosstown Yankees in the latest installment of the Subway Series. Nolan McLean, a 25-year-old right-hander who has emerged as a front-of-the-rotation starter, takes the mound against a Yankees club still fighting for the best record in the American League.
McLean enters the game with an 11-8 record, a 3.06 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. His 179 strikeouts rank 14th in all of baseball, a testament to how quickly he has developed into one of the game's more reliable starters. He has faced only two Yankees hitters in his career, and they are a combined 0-for-6 against him, a small sample that nonetheless gives the Mets reason for optimism in a matchup that has often gone the Yankees' way.
The start comes at the end of what has been a disaster of a season for the Mets, who are very likely to finish under.500 and head into the offseason searching for answers once again. It is not for lack of effort. In the last two years alone, the club signed Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and Freddy Peralta — additions any franchise would welcome — but the pieces have not clicked. Peralta was traded away, as was Luis Robert Jr., leaving McLean as one of the few genuine bright spots in a disappointing campaign.
The Yankees, by contrast, are having a strong year. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays by three games in the race for the American League's best record, with 16 games remaining on the schedule. They recently welcomed back their leader, Aaron Judge, who has played only two games since returning but looked solid in his most recent outing, going 2-for-4. His presence gives the lineup another push before the playoffs begin.
New York also turns to a starter who has helped steady the rotation since coming back from injury. Carlos Rodon takes the ball with a 5-3 record, a 3.09 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Since returning in August, he has allowed five earned runs over 17.2 innings, and the team has been careful not to push him too deep into games. A typical outing for Rodon this season has been two or fewer runs over five or fewer innings, and his return could give the Yankees four solid pitchers in the rotation for the postseason.
Rodon has faced the Mets once before in his career, allowing two earned runs over 3.2 innings in a game the Yankees lost. That history, combined with McLean's form, gives the Mets a real chance to steal another win in the series. The concern for New York's National League club is the bullpen, which has been unreliable and could undo a strong start if the game is turned over in the later innings.
For the Mets, the final weeks of the season are less about the standings and more about evaluating what they have for the future. McLean's emergence as a top-of-the-rotation arm is a meaningful development for a franchise that has spent heavily without much to show for it. A strong showing against the Yankees would reinforce that the 25-year-old can be counted on as the club retools around him.
For the Yankees, every game matters as they chase the Rays and position themselves for October. Getting Judge back in the lineup and Rodon healthy in the rotation gives them the kind of depth that matters in a playoff series. A win over the Mets would keep pressure on Tampa Bay and continue a campaign that has gone very differently from their crosstown rivals' season.
