Nolan McLean had a golden opportunity after stepping up for the United States in the World Baseball Classic 2026-likely the most high-pressure and significant stage of his young career-though unfortunately, Team USA fell short of the title.
The young New York Mets pitcher started for Team USA on two occasions.
His first start came against Team Italy in the final day of the WBC group stage on March 10. The 24-year-old right-hander allowed three earned runs on just two hits-both home runs-while issuing two walks and recording four strikeouts over three innings. The United States baseball team lost 8-6, a result that saddled McLean with the loss and placed him under intense criticism for the first time in his MLB career.
Despite that outing, manager Mark DeRosa trusted him again to start the World Baseball Classic final against Venezuela. In that game, McLean worked 4.2 innings, surrendering two earned runs on four hits, walking one batter, and striking out one on 63 pitches.
Unfortunately for him, the Team USA offense went cold and couldn’t deliver, resulting in a 3-2 defeat. Thus, the Mets rookie pitcher ended up taking both of USA’s losses in the 2026 WBC.
Francisco Álvarez’s playful ribbing of McLean
Francisco Álvarez did not participate with Team Venezuela, but he made his Venezuelan national pride crystal clear when his teammate pitcher returned to the New York Mets Spring Training complex.
“Yeah. As soon as he walked in today, he was yelling all over the place. As good as it was to see him, it kind of ruined it for me,” McLean said with a laugh to SNY.
“Um, no, I haven’t seen him yet. But it was, yeah, Alvy got me good this morning. I guess it was this morning. But yeah, like I said, as good as it was to see Alvy, he came in yelling at me this morning. But it’s good to be back, for sure.”
With the World Baseball Classic 2026 now over, attention turns to the MLB 2026 season, where the New York Mets aim to bounce back and establish themselves as MLB playoff contenders.
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