Nolan McLean, 2026 Fantasy Outlook

In the top 10 Mets prospects list, Nolan McLean was ranked first, there Itch said, “McLean might actually be a little closer to Lincecum than Tong in terms of stuff and approach to the game. His is more or less a ‘let’s see if you can hit this’ style of pitching, featuring nasty stuff that moves all over the zone. He throws six different pitches at least nine percent of the time, and his sweeper is the only one that’s gotten hit this season. He’s throwing it 26 percent of the time even though batters are hitting .361 with a .528 slugging percentage against it. If he can back off on that pitch and maintain the results from the others, he’s going to be a monster for a long time. At 6’2” 212 lbs with another life as a position player, he’s got a lot of upside that the Mets are quickly unearthing. To even call it upside feels ludicrous looking at his 2.08 ERA through 48 major league innings. Reading these last few sentences back to myself made me bump McLean ahead of Tong, for what that’s worth. It’s also worth a kick to the nads for Grey.” C’mon, man! You know what’s interesting, the Mets spend money. Their owner spends money. They boku the greenbacks out the door. Yet — again with some stank — YET! They left two starters in the minors (McLean, Tong) and maybe three (Brandon Sproat) who, if promoted earlier, could’ve helped them get to the playoffs. How does that make sense? It doesn’t. To keep them under control longer? Why? They can just pay them. Even teams that spend money make stupid decisions because it’s so ingrained in team’s psyche to cheap-out prospects. So, what can we expect from Nolan mcLean for 2026 fantasy baseball?

Nolan McLean’s final start of the season was 5 1/3 IP, 5 ER and he still had a 2.06 ERA in five starts. Yes, he could be the top rookie for 2026 fantasy baseball too. Jakkers gave you a Nolan McLean dynasty outlook, and is worth a read, but one key note:

• Sweeper (28% usage)

If you want to know why McLean is having so much success, all you need to look at, really, is his sweeper and sinker. The sweeper is just a nasty pitch. Thrown at an average speed of 85.3 mph, the pitch averages nearly 16 inches of horizontal break, allowing McLean to run it away from righties or throw it to the back foot of lefties.

• Sinker (27% usage)

While the sweeper is busy cutting across the plate, McLean also features a sinker that averages 94.4 mph and has topped out at 97.4 mph. Like his sweeper, the sinker has great horizontal movement, averaging about 16 inches of break. Unlike his sweeper, which averages 0.4 inches of downward movement (gravity not accounted for), the sinker averages just over two inches of vertical movement.

Hitters are hitting only .148 against the pitch with a .185 SLG. And the overall result of McLean’s sweeper and sinker is a remarkable 66.1% ground ball rate. Opponents are simply unable to get the two pitches into the air, much less barrel the ball.

He also throws a curve (80 MPH), fastball (95 MPH) and change (86 MPH). Five pitches for a rookie? Oh, he also features a cutter.

In the minors (last stop Triple-A), Nolan McLean went 2.45 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 4 BB/9 and 2.54 K/BB in 113 2/3 IP. Add that onto his MLB innings and he could easily throw a full season in 2026, at least 150+ innings. I’m a bit concerned about the walks, but his stuff plays so well, it’ll limit damage. Here’s some highlights:

Nolan McLean, 84mph Sweeper and 97mph Two Seamer, Individual Pitches + Overlay

Sweeper= 21 inches of break
Two Seamer=19 inches of run.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS. ? pic.twitter.com/ZoE8uZ9pyL

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2025

I honestly don’t know how anyone hits that. To feature that against lefties? Feels unfair. You’re gonna see people swing as the ball crashes into their shins. Ouchies. Here’s another:

Nolan McLean, 3377 RPM Curveball. ?? pic.twitter.com/42Er1Xx6z5

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 26, 2025

2,545 RPM is average on a MLB curve. His is off-the-charts nutty. Acksually, he has three or four pitches you could call nutty. The best bet for hitters is to just lay off everything and work the count so he has to throw a strike. That sounds like a doable game plan though, so McLean, like most rookies, could get into trouble. The varied possibilities here for his projections range from ROY and Cy talk to 4+ ERA and a struggle to roster. That’s the nature of rookie pitchers though. For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Nolan McLean projections of 10-8/3.87/1.26/164 in 147 IP with a chance for much more.