On Tuesday night, the Mets dropped the second game of a three-game set to the Braves by a score of 4-0. The offense didn’t show up, producing a measly seven baserunners to end the recent hot streak offensively.

Nolan McLean, however, continued his stretch of impressive pitching. Despite falling to 8-8, McLean went six innings, surrendering only one run on one hit, walked two and struck out three. McLean had a no-hitter going into the fifth before Ozzie Albies ended both the no hitter and effectively the game. Despite the lack of swings and misses or strike outs, McLean was very effective in keeping the ball out of the air, leading to plenty of groundouts.

After the game, Andy Green told reporters that he liked how “he bounced back early from being behind pretty consistently” and how he “managed to get out of those first couple innings”. Both of which I feel have been a trend for McLean recently. On Tuesday, McLean did not throw a first pitch strike until Mauricio Dubón came to bat with two outs in the second inning. Total, for the night, McLean threw only eight first pitch strikes to 20 total batters. McLean’s first pitch strike percentage has been very low for qualified pitchers, which makes his length even more impressive.

Something McLean has done very well this season is figure out a way to get deep into the game. In today’s baseball, more often than ever are we seeing pitchers get through only five innings. I’m sure plenty of Mets fans can think of some guys who fit this stereotype. McLean, however, has shown a big deal of maturity to ensure he is getting through six innings or more as often as possible. McLean has gone at least six innings in 10 of his last 12 starts, dating back to the beginning of June. And these starts are not just eating innings: Nine of those 10 have been quality starts. His 14 quality starts ranks t-8th in baseball.

Something that popped up in McLean’s recent start that has been drumming up some conversations is McLean’s whiff rate. And no, despite what you might think, it is not high. McLean’s whiff rate of 28.1% ranks in the 24th percentile of baseball. We can all agree that McLean has great stuff and he strikes out a ton of batters. So, what gives with the low whiff rate? In fact, of all players with at least 70 innings pitched, McLean has the lowest chase rate of any pitcher with a strikeout rate of 86%.

It’s a really interesting conversation and tough to explain. If I took my best stab at a reason why, it would be that people simply don’t swing a lot at McLean’s pitches. Of all qualified starters, McLean’s 43.8% swing rate ranks second to last, and his called strike rate is the highest in baseball. What’s funny about that is that his percent of pitches in the zone is not at the top of the board either. So, McLean is not throwing a lot of strikes, but not getting swings and misses at the rate that he should. Baseball is a funny game.

2026 has been a great year of maturity for McLean. Despite not always having his best stuff, he has shown that he can adapt to each game in an attempt to put the Mets in a position to win. This is a valuable trait that serves both him and the Mets well.

Even with facing some adversity, McLean gives the Mets a great chance to win every fifth day, which is all anyone can ask for.