Ruined a McLean Outing
Morning Dose: Friday, April 10
☀️ Good Morning:
I really wanted to write about Nolan McLean this morning.
How his stuff is so ridiculously nasty that he is making major-league hitters look like bystanders at the plate, marveling at how a pitch that started over there, ended up here.
McLean struck out eight Diamondbacks on Thursday and they only swung and missed at a combined six pitches.
How is that even possible?
By getting 26 called strikes, tied for most in a game this season, 16 coming off his sinker. He has so much movement on his pitches, and they tunnel off each other so well, hitters are left guessing at when a pitch is going to land in the strike zone and catch an edge that an ABS challenge can’t overturn.
But I can’t geek out on McLean this morning because the offense remains on the side of a milk carton, the defense is doing what you would expect it to do with several guys playing out of position and the bullpen imploded.
After winning four in a row and finding new heroes each night to do so, the Mets have looked as unresponsive as the free ticket giveaway (sorry, couldn’t help myself).
🗓️ UP NEXT: The Amazins will try to get back on the winning ledger with the Athletics coming to town. The A’s took two out of three in the Bronx, and nearly no-hit the Yankees last night. Clay Holmes will toe the rubber in the opener against a familiar name, J.T. Ginn.
📰 ABOVE THE FOLD
ABOUT THAT DOUBLE
Brett Baty is playing out of position in right field.
So when a ball sails over his head to ruin McLean’s dominant start, it’s natural for fans to get upset. This doesn’t look like the most efficient route to make a catch, even if it would have been a somewhat challenging one against the wall.
