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So, what are you doing on this first Super Sunday? Travel plans? Off to the Bridge, to the City Ground, to OT? Riding the road to hell? Watching on an iPad as you cruise down the Limpopo river? Braving Avanti? Do let us know.
The Premier League is back, and pre-season predictions are already out of the window. Liverpool can’t defend, Manchester City are champions, West Ham and Wolves are relegated, Regis Le Bris is the new Bob Stokoe. So why not do it all over again on Super Sunday?
Max Fried had a two-run lead before he threw his first pitch on Saturday in St. Louis. But despite that boost, the Yankees' left-hander couldn't find the answers to his recent struggles as he allowed a season-high seven runs.
"I haven't been sharp, I haven't had the good results," Fried said after allowing four runs or more for the fourth time in five starts since the All-Star break. "When you gotta go out there and have good outings, I haven't been able to do that.
"I'm working hard in between to make the best adjustments that I can, and they haven't really been showing... I know that going forward, I gotta be way better."
When asked for his level of concern, the first-year Yank said he is "not in any panic mode," but there is "definitely motivation to make sure I don't keep doing this."
Three batters into the game, Fried allowed his first run (partially thanks to Jasson Dominguez's misplaying a single into a triple) before he turned the lead into a deficit in the second when he followed a walk with back-to-back singles and a three-run homer.
"It's been going the same way for me for a little bit now, where I've given up a little bit of a crooked number in an inning," Fried said of the four-run second inning.
But he got the next two batters on strikes, the lefty found his groove for the first time, retiring 11 of the next 12 batters with five strikeouts, allowing only an infield single on a slow chopper to second.
"I think he was just commanding the strike zone at a really high level," manager Aaron Boone said of Fried's good run. "I think he was starting to have a presence on a little bit on the arm side – with the changeup over there, sinker on that side of the plate, and then that set up his cutter even better or his curveball. 'Cause he's got so many ways to beat ya.
"He's gotta make sure he uses that and uses both sides of the plate. He just got into a good rhythm from a command standpoint, too."
His night came to an end seven pitches into the bottom half of the sixth when Jordan Walker smoked a double off the wall in right center and Nolan Gorman hooked a two-run home run just around the right-field foul pole.
"It was good for a little bit," Fried said of finding his groove. "Just made two bad pitches again in the sixth."
That ended his night after 5.0 innings, surrendering seven runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
"I can't give the guys enough credit," the starter said. "They came out today and played a really great game and picked me up big-time, especially with the performance that I had. Can't say enough about them. Wish I had been a little bit better and less runs up there, but at the end of the day, we got a win. That's the most important thing."
But going back to his final start before the break, in which Fried developed a blister on his left index finger, he has now pitched to a 7.20 ERA over his last six starts, allowing 29 runs (24 earned) on 40 hits and 13 walks with 30 strikeouts in 30 innings (1.767 WHIP). And since the end of June, his ERA has jumped from 1.92 to 3.26.
When asked about the struggles, the manager pointed to "the next-level strike throwing."
"For several starts in there, it was not consistently getting ahead at all," Boone said. "A lot of 1-0, start from there. Then the Astros got him where he was just not putting guys away. I think it's just that next level of command, making sure he's using all his stuff, and using both sides of the plate.
"But this is the gauntlet that is the season. He'll get through it. He's working his tail off, the stuff's there, we just gotta find that next level of execution."
Fried said that throughout his career, he's been able to find ways to be able to get ground balls and weak contact even when down in the count.
"It's frustrating in this stretch that I haven't been able to do that, and it's putting us in holes," he said. "I definitely have to change something and change up quick."
When training camp opens for the Pittsburgh Penguins one month from now - and with more youth talent in the organization than there has been in a long while - there will be a lot of positional battles on pretty much every front.
But one of the most interesting battles will come on the left side of the blue line.
Barring any other trades or major moves prior to puck drop against the New York Rangers on Oct. 7, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Matt Dumba, and Connor Clifton will more than likely populate the right side. In contrast, however, the Penguins do not really have a bona fide top-four defenseman for the left side, making that positional battle one that is wide open for the taking.
Here are some of the names who will be involved in that positional battle - as well as what to expect from each of them.
Parker Wotherspoon
Wotherspoon, 27, was signed to a two-year, $2 million contract right out of the gate on Jul. 1, when free agency opened. He was drafted in the fourth round (112th overall) by the New York Islanders in 2015, and he spent part of one NHL season with the Isles in 2022-23 before signing a two-year deal with the Boston Bruins.
There, Wotherspoon registered a goal and 15 points in 96 games split between two seasons. While he may not contribute much at all offensively, he was a solid shutdown preference on a bottom pairing for Boston despite the team's overall struggles.
The Penguins need to take a chance on as many shutdown guys as they can. Although he is likely best-suited for a bottom-pairing role, there is a very good chance he will occupy one of those spots in the top-four, should nothing drastic change between now and training camp.
A responsible defensive partner is something that is needed for both Karlsson and Letang, so expect Wotherspoon to be paired with one of them.
Ryan Graves
It's no secret at this point that Graves has struggled in a Penguins' uniform. After being signed to a six-year deal worth $3.5 million annually during free agency in 2023 - with high hopes of becoming a staple in the Penguins' top-four alongside one of the big guys - he has yet to play up to his contract value.
In fact, Graves was a semi-regular healthy scratch last season, even if there were times when he seemed to take small strides in his game.
The reality is that the Penguins are likely going to be anchored to Graves's contract for four more years, so the best thing for Graves would be to simply find a way to make adjustments and get the most out of his game in that time. The Penguins will have a new coaching staff this season under Dan Muse, and assistant Mike Stothers will helm the defensive unit.
Hopefully, Muse and Stothers can find a way to maximize Graves. But he certainly has to prove himself, so until he does, it's likely going to be much of the same for him with rotating in and out of the lineup.
Ryan Shea
Shea is returning to the Penguins on a one-year, $900,000 contract, and there were times last season when he found himself in the top-four - especially after Marcus Pettersson was dealt to Vancouver.
But that doesn't mean that Shea should be getting top-four minutes. Ideally, he is the Penguins' sixth or seventh defenseman, and he does fine enough in that role. But with increased minutes and responsibility last season came a noticeable lag in his play.
Shea will more than likely be on the opening night roster - and he may be in the mix for a top-four role - but, ideally, he's earning most of his minutes in a more sheltered role.
Owen Pickering
Pickering, 22, is one of the Penguins' top prospects, and he showed - at times - in a 25-game sample last season that he is capable of handling the NHL game. His play did drop off a bit prior to being re-assigned to the AHL midseason, but the Penguins are banking on this guy being a big part of their future.
Pittsburgh is also at a point where they need to start seeing what they have in some of their young prospects with promise. With the focus now on youth and development, Pickering absolutely should be on the roster, and - hopefully - have some runway in a bottom-pairing role where he can learn to fully adjust to the NHL.
But he isn't simply going to be gifted the opportunity. There are a lot of options on the left side for the Penguins heading into training camp, and the competition for all three spots is going to come down to the wire.
At the end of the day, Pickering will need to have a "prove-it-to-me" kind of camp to solidify a starting position on the left side. If he doesn't earn that spot out of camp, he will likely begin the season in the NHL - as the Penguins probably won't want to have him warming the bench at the NHL level.
Alexander Alexeyev
The 6-foot-4, 229-pound Alexeyev was one of the more interesting signings of the offseason by the Penguins. The 25-year-old Russian blueliner - a first-round pick (31st overall) in 2018 by the Washington Capitals - has spent parts of the last four seasons with the Capitals, totaling a goal and eight points in 80 career NHL games.
He did appear in 10 playoff games for the Capitals last season, getting his teeth knocked out in the process and turning in a solid performance. Despite his playoff appearances, however, Alexeyev didn't get much of an opportunity with the Caps throughout the regular season last year, and he was non-tendered in the offseason.
He does also have some familiarity with new Penguins' assistant coach Todd Nelson, who briefly coached Alexeyev when both were members of the Hershey Bears, Washington's AHL affiliate.
There is definitely some upside with Alexeyev, but his ceiling is a bit limited. The Penguins need big bodies and physical, hard-to-play-against defenders on their blue line, and if all goes well, Alexeyev could fit the bill.
He is eager to have an open door-type opportunity in Pittsburgh, but he will have to outcompete Pickering, Shea, and a few others to seize that opportunity.
Caleb Jones
Jones, 28, was drafted in the fourth round (117th overall) by the Edmonton Oilers in 2015. After spending three seasons with the Oilers from 2018-21, Jones has made his rounds the past several seasons, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings.
His best seasons came with Chicago from 2021-23, when he put up nine goals and 31 points in 124 games. Jones can contribute offensively on occasion, but his value has dwindled the past few seasons.
Jones signed with the Penguins for two years at $900,000 annually, and he has some things to prove. He is a decent depth option for the Penguins, but - more likely than not - he will find himself on the outside looking in for an NHL roster spot out of camp.
Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández gets a high-five from first base coach Chris Woodward after hitting a solo home run against the Padres in the fifth inning of a 6-0 win Saturday at Dodger Stadium. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The San Diego Padres’ performance on Saturday could probably be put in a tutorial video.
Suggested title: How NOT to play a baseball game.
On a night the surging Padres were trying to bounce back from the Dodgers’ opening win in this weekend’s pivotal three-game series, one that tied the two Southern California rivals atop the National League West standings, the club instead put on an exhibition of poor, sloppy and outright comical execution.
While the once-slumping Dodgers have raised their level of play the last two nights, the Padres have made mistakes even Little League coaches would be reprimanding.
Except in their case, even the coaching appeared to be part of the problem.
In the Dodgers’ 6-0 win — a victory that restored their solo lead in the division, and clinched their head-to-head season series against the Padres in case of a tiebreaker at the end of the year — San Diego did all it could to give the game away from the start.
In the top of the first, three of the Padres’ first four batters recorded a hit against Blake Snell, the ex-Padre left-hander making his first start against the team since leaving in free agency at the end of 2023. But twice, Dodgers catcher Will Smith caught a runner trying to steal second, gunning down Fernando Tatis Jr. after his leadoff single before getting Manny Machado on the back end of an attempted double-steal to retire the side.
“We had a plan,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “And they made some plays.”
Lo and behold, the plan backfired again in the second, with Smith throwing out yet another runner, Xander Bogaerts, with yet another strike to second.
“Through two innings,” Snell joked, “he had three outs and I had three outs.”
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell delivers against the Padres at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
It was the Dodgers’ first game with three caught stealings since 2021, and it made Smith the first Dodgers catcher with three individually since Russell Martin in 2010.
“Obviously we feel that Will is the best catcher in baseball in totality,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Tonight, he showed it with his arm.”
And, just as importantly, Roberts quickly added: “Essentially, they played 24 outs.”
Somehow, the Padres’ pitching and defense found a way to be even worse.
Starting pitcher Dylan Cease began his outing with three-straight walks in the bottom of the first, spraying the ball around the plate while visibly frustrated.
After a one-out sacrifice fly from Teoscar Hernández, Cease reloaded the bases with another free pass to Andy Pages, and followed that with a hanging curveball to Michael Conforto in a 3-and-0 count that had run full. Conforto was ready for it, ripping a two-run single into right. Seven batters in, the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead.
“Definitely you don't want to help him out in that situation,” Conforto said. “But he fell behind 3-0, and came back into the zone, and showed that he was going to throw strikes. He wasn't going to put me on. So, being ready to hit 3-1, and then being ready to hit 3-2, was obviously the plan.”
Dodgers second base Miguel Rojas tags out San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts on a stolen-base attempt in the second inning. Catcher Will Smith threw out three Padres baserunners Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Walks continued to abound in the second, with Cease putting Shohei Ohtani and Smith aboard to create more traffic. This time, the right-hander had appeared to work his way out of it, after Freddie Freeman hit a deep fly ball that died at the warning track in right-center. But on this night, even routine outs were no sure thing.
Sensing Tatis converging from right field, center fielder Jackson Merrill briefly hesitated while pursuing the drive, before awkwardly reaching for it with an underhanded attempt. Predictably, he couldn’t hold on, the ball hitting the heel of his mitt before falling to the ground for a two-run error.
The Dodgers, who went on to get six shutout innings from Snell and a second home run in as many nights from Hernández, would never be threatened again.
“It’s certainly good to be on the other side of things,” Roberts said, after his club had for so long had been the one shooting itself in the foot. “We’ve caught some breaks ... but for us to take advantage of them is huge.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani scores on a sacrifice fly in the first inning Saturday against the Padres. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
To recap the first two innings one more time:
The Dodgers (70-53) had just one hit, and saw their starting pitcher retire only one of the first five batters he faced — but drew six walks, were gifted a dropped ball and somehow led 5-0.
The Padres (69-54) had four hits — but apparently forgot how to throw up a stop sign, committed the costliest of imaginable errors defensively, and watched their starting pitcher throw 31 balls to only 27 strikes.
That, kids, is decidedly not how it’s done.
“It just got out of hand a little early,” Bogaerts said. “Obviously a little, couple of mistakes.”
Not that the Dodgers seemed all too much to mind.
Over the last couple months, as Roberts eluded to, they had been the team on the wrong end of sloppy fundamentals. What was once a nine-game division lead evaporated in the space of six weeks, thanks to un-clutch offense, unreliable relief pitching and one maddening close loss after another.
But in Friday’s series opener, they had finally played clean baseball, and even more importantly, grinded out a one-run win.
“If you win the close games, that’s how you build,” Freeman theorized last week. “Then you’ll score nine, 10 runs. Then you’ll start putting some things together. But just need to find a way to win those close ones.”
So far in this series, that prediction has come true.
Not that he, or anyone else with the Dodgers, could have expected the Padres to offer so much self-destructive help.
“I'm just happy that we're playing better baseball,” Roberts said. “We're playing clean baseball. We're minimizing the walks, taking walks. Not making outs on the bases, and converting outs when we need to. When you have the talent that we do, you just gotta kind of play good baseball. ... So this is a good time to go for the jugular [with a potential series sweep Sunday].”
Every hockey fan worth his weight in pucks knows someone who thinks he knows everything there is to know about the ice game.Here's one way to put that alleged genius in his place: Ask him the following question:
NAME THE SIX NHL GOALIES WHO ALSO DOUBLED AS TEAM CAPTAINS?
Guaranteed, one out of 100 will know the answer and that one de luxe wiseman isthe one and only author-Rangers fan George Grimm of the Garden State. (Shhh, keep this to yourself, please: Grimm gave me the answers.)
The answers:
1. John Ross Roach, Toronto St. Patricks, 1924-25; later to be Rangers goalie.
2. George Hainsworth, Montreal Canadiens, 1932-33.
3. Roy Worters, New York Americans, 1932-33.
4. Alex Connell, Ottawa Senators, 1932-33.
5. Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks, 1933-34.
Ben Rice homered and drove in seven and Aaron Judge added a home run and two RBI as the Yankees topped the Cardinals, 12-8, in a Saturday night slugfest in St. Louis.
Add in Trent Grisham’s four-hit game, the first three batters in the Yanks order went a combined 9-for-13 with nine RBI, seven runs scored, two home runs, two doubles, four walks, and three strikeouts.
With the win, New York (66-57) has now won six of nine after snapping a five-game losing skid. The Yankees are 2.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who lost on Saturday, for the final AL wild card spot.
Here are the key takeaways...
- The Yanks quickly jumped on Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray’s slow start to the game with Grisham leading off with a single to right, Rice taking a four-pitch walk, and Judge yanking a first-pitch cutter up in the zone for an RBI double. Jasson Dominguez added an RBI single to left, but Gray limited the damage by striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe swinging and Ryan McMahon looking to end the first.m
- Leading off the top of the third, Judge hammered the first-pitch he saw for a 396-foot home run that hit off the top of the wall in right-center, just over the glove of St. Louis centerfielder Victor Scott. In two at-bats against Gray, Judge saw two offerings and hit them 101.9 mph in the first and 101.4 mph in the third, tallying his 25th double, 39th home run, and 91st and 92nd RBI of the season in the process.
- New York got something cooking with one down in the fourth when Jose Caballero dropped a perfect bunt down to third and Grisham muscled a single off his hands into right for a first and third chance. And after falling behind 0-2, Rice got a sinker that hung right over the heart of the plate for a no-doubt three-run shot to right center. The 429-foot blast, smacked 108.3 mph off the bat, put the Yanks up 6-5.
- Austin Wells singled to right to start the sixth inning off Cardinals reliever Kyle Leahy, snapping a run of just eight hits in 65 at-bats (.123) over his last 20 games entering the game. Caballero and Grisham followed with singles to load the bases and Rice got a hanging curveball and rocketed into the gap for a three-run double off the base of the wall in right-center.
Rice got another chance with men on base in the seventh and singled to right for his seventh RBI of the game, tying a career high.
- Max Fried threw his first pitch with a lead, but allowed a run three batters in after Dominguez misplayed a single into a one-out triple and a single to right plated the Cards’ first run. The left-hander, who has been struggling of late, surrendered the lead in the second with a leadoff walk and back-to-back one-out singles to tie the game. Fried’s 1-1 cutter to Masyn Winn leaked over the inner third and found the left field seats for a 375-foot three-run home run.
After the homer, Fried retired 11 of the next 12 batters with five strikeouts, allowing just an infield single to second. Jordan Walker put an end to that with a double off the wall in right center on a cutter down and over the plate that was just tattooed (111.9 mph off the bat) to start the home half of the sixth. Two pitches later, Fried’s curveball off the inside corner was yanked just inside the right field foul pole for a Nolan Gorman two-run home run, and that ended the starter's night after 94 pitches (56 strikes).
That ended the lefty-hander's night: 5.0 innings, seven runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
Going back to his final start before the All-Star break, in which Fried developed a blister on his left index finger, he has now pitched to a 7.20 ERA over his last six starts, allowing 29 runs (24 earned) on 40 hits and 13 walks with 30 strikeouts in 30 innings (1.767 WHIP). Since the end of June, his ERA has jumped from 1.92 to 3.26.
- Out of the bullpen, Devin Williams came in and looked very impressive, striking out the side in the sixth on just 19 pitches (13 strikes) with three whiffs and four called strikes. Yerry De Los Santos added two strikeouts while allowing just an infield hit over two innings of work.
In the ninth, Mark Leiter Jr. got stung for Pedro Pagés' 429-foot dinger on a sinker on the inside corner with one out before allowing back-to-back two-out infield singles. That was enough for Aaron Boone to summon David Bednar, who promptly ended the game on three pitches with a pop-up behind home plate for the save.
- McMahon, with 14 hits in his first 58 at-bats with the Yanks, cranked a solo home run to right on a ball that just kept carrying to start the seventh, his first with the club. He finished the day 1-for-5.
- Volpe made a couple of nice plays at shortstop, but his struggles at the plate continued as he went hitless in five at-bats with three strikeouts. He has just seven hits in his last 47 at-bats (.149) and is now batting .215 with a .696 OPS on the season.
Game MVP: Ben Rice
Three hits in five at-bats with seven RBI and a walk. He's now batting .240 on the year with an .804 OPS.
The Yanks go for the sweep of the three-game series over the Cards with Sunday afternoon's 2:15 p.m. first pitch.
Will Warren (4.34 ERA, 1.365 WHIP in 122.1 innings over 25 starts) climbs the hill for New York. Right-hander Miles Mikolas (4.97 ERA, 1.283 WHIP in 117.2 innings over 23 starts) will get the ball for the home team.
Following a 12-year absence, NHL players will be participants once again in the Winter Olympics. It will provide top-notch entertainment for fans, especially in the wake of the highly successful Four Nations Face-off Tournament in late February.
Among the players who took part in the Four Nations Face-off was Detroit Red Wings team captain Dylan Larkin, who would score the game-winning goal for Team USA against Team Canada in the first of two matchups.
Not all hockey fans support their favorite NHL players participating in the Olympic Games, often citing the risk of injury and its potential impact on the season.
Now that NHL players are officially returning, do you plan on watching or would you have rather seen them use the break for rest and rehabilitation?
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Fans Want NHLers at the Olympics - March 19, 1999 - Volume 52, Issue 27 - Jason Kay
The ayes have it, even if the IOC doesn’t.
Despite the International Olympic Committee corruption scandal and the mixed reviews to which the hockey event at the 1998 Nagano Games played, readers of THN largely support NHL participation at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
THN asked readers whether the league should again interrupt a season and send players to the Olympics. The ’Yes’ vote (67.5 per cent) outpolled the ’No’ (32.5 per cent) vote by a 2-1 margin.
Many of those who favor an Olympic sequel say the event would lose luster if the game’s greatest stars don’t participate.
“The Olympics are supposed to showcase the best athletes,” writes Chris Schultz of Green Bay, Wise., “and I think the best talent in the world should be there, regardless of what happened in the 1998 Games.”
“Each sport brings the best,” writes Fernand Welschbillig of Mersch, Luxembourg. “Why should hockey be the exception?”
Among those who cast ’No’ ballots, some felt Nagano didn’t Eve up to its hype. Others were turned off by Team USA’s room trashing. Others are appalled by the IOC bribery scandal. And there are many who believe the Olympics should be for amateurs.
“I don’t support NHL participation,” writes Dan Black of Regina, Sask., “especially for an American team after the disgrace they brought upon the NHL and the USA in the last Olympics.”
“Keep the Olympics for amateurs,” writes Thomas V. Papaccio of Cherry Hill, N.J. “Remember 1980? That was exciting.”
“My reason (for voting ’no’) has been in the news for the past few months,” writes Bob McConnell of Kamloops, B.C., in reference to IOC problems. “That says it all.”
For the record, the NHL is expected to halt its season in 2002 and send players to Salt Lake, but no official announcement has been made.
PUCK POLL
In light of the NHL’s experience at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and the recent corruption scandal involving members of the International Olympic Committee, do you support NHL participation, such as Czech Republic gold-medal goalie Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres, at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City?
Yes, I support participation 67.5%
No, I don’t support participation 32.5%
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The spin rates were eye-opening. The results spoke for themselves. Yet everyone around the Mets seemed most impressed by the poise that Nolan McLean demonstrated in his outstanding major league debut on Saturday at Citi Field.
“It’s everything we’ve been hearing about him,” Carlos Mendoza said after the Mets’ 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners. “The mound presence, the demeanor, the attack. You feel it. There’s something special there.”
It’s what I’ve been hearing as well from Mets people since they drafted him out of Oklahoma State in 2023, where he played infield and hit at the top of the lineup in addition to pitching.
“He has the weapons to succeed in the big leagues,” one Mets person told me earlier this week, “but a lot of guys have that. The poise and the compete factor will separate him. The It Factor, whatever you want to call it. Spend time around him and you feel it.”
It’s one of the reasons the Mets chose McLean over Brandon Sproat when they finally decided to bounce Frankie Montas from the rotation. Sproat had been the hotter pitcher in recent weeks, but he had also struggled badly last year and for a couple of months this year after being promoted to Triple A, where the transition was seamless this year for McLean.
For that matter, it’s also the reason I heard from scouts for several weeks who were surprised the Mets were waiting so long to call up McLean, given the injuries to their rotation and some of the lesser-talented major leaguers they were running out there.
As one scout put it, "If they were worried about a bad start up there hurting his confidence or setting him back, he’d be the last guy I’d be worried about. The Mets people I know say he thrives on competition like very few guys that come along.”
In recent weeks, David Stearns explained his resistance to calling up either McLean or Sproat as a matter of wanting to have the spot in the rotation to keep them there, rather than shuttling them back and forth.
They did that with Blade Tidwell, though nobody seemed to think he had the ceiling of either Sproat or McLean. And Tidwell didn’t pitch particularly well, leading the Mets to trade him in the deadline deal for Tyler Rogers.
So now, after McLean’s debut, you have to wonder if indeed Stearns should have made the call to McLean earlier. Maybe he could have helped make the Mets’ starting rotation more competitive in recent weeks and kept the ballclub from going into a free-fall.
To be fair, however, it’s possible that Mclean needed this much time in the minors to sharpen his game so he could major league hitters out as well, especially left-handed hitters. After his debut Saturday, the right-hander said he’s made significant improvements against lefties in the last several weeks, learning to pitch inside to them with both his fastball and his breaking stuff.
“I’ve really worked at that,” McLean said.
So who knows for sure? The good news for the Mets is, as bad as they’ve played, losing 12 of 14 games going into Saturday, it’s not too late for McLean to have an impact. They’re still in the third wild card spot, and suddenly the five-game deficit to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East didn’t seem quite as imposing with the news that Phillies’ ace Zack Wheeler went on the IL with a blood clot in his pitching arm.
It doesn’t mean McLean is guaranteed to pitch with dominance in the weeks ahead, but his debut certainly gave Mets fans hope and brought a much-needed fresh vibe to a ballclub that had forgotten how to win.
“We definitely felt the energy from the minute he took the mound,” Mendoza said. “It’s maybe something we were missing, with how hard a stretch this has been.”
McLean showed no nerves, striking out leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena looking at an 86-mph sweeper, his most dominant pitch in the minors. Afterward, McLean seemed surprised when a reporter asked if that first strikeout helped settle the nerves.
Nerves? What nerves?
“I felt pretty good, actually,” he said. “Once the batter steps in the box, it’s just competition.”
He said it matter-of-factly, in a way that sounded genuine. Again, Mets people say there’s no fake tough guy in him.
“That’s him,” one person said. “He’s still got some football in him.’’
Yes, McLean was a star football player in high school, good enough that he was recruited to play both football and baseball at Oklahoma State, and did so for a year before deciding to concentrate on baseball. And then he was drafted by the Mets as both a hitter and a pitcher, before giving up hitting at some point last year.
In any case, for 5.1 innings on Saturday, McLean showcased all of his weapons, mixing his pitches with a variety of speed and spin, from his 78-mph curveball to his 97-mph four-seamer. His spin rates on sweeper and curve ball, in particular, were among the highest in the majors this season, but he also wasn’t afraid to challenge hitters with his fastball when he had to.
For the day, he racked up eight strikeouts before Mendoza took him out with his pitch count at 91 pitches. No surprise, the move was met with loud booing for the manager, as much because of the bullpen meltdowns or recent days as the desire to see more of McLean.
“Oh, I heard them loud and clear,” Mendoza said with a laugh afterward. “If I was sitting in the stands, I would have been booing myself. But I have responsibility here to him and the ballclub.”
Fortunately for Mendoza, Gregory Soto, the one trade-deadline acquisition who has been superb, got through the sixth and seventh, and from there the manager went right to Edwin Diaz for a six-out save, which told you all you needed to know about the state of the bullpen and how much the Mets needed this win.
“It’s getting to a point where it’s go time,” was the way Mendoza explained it.
If they’re going to get back to playing like a playoff team, it already feels as if McLean will be a big part of it. His debut was that notable.
Even beyond the strikeouts and the dominance, it was one play that stood out most, when he escaped a bases-loaded situation into an inning-ending double play in the third, making a spectacular behind-the-back grab of the ball and then a textbook turn and fire to Brett Baty for a 1-4-3 DP.
“That said a lot about who he is,” one scout told me Saturday night. “First, he didn’t flinch when he got in trouble. He made a good pitch to get in on Julio (Rodriguez), then had the awareness not only to make the grab but to spin and throw a strike to second. Most guys making their first start would have gone home and probably hurried the throw.
“He reacted more like a seasoned infielder than a young pitcher. It doesn’t mean he’s going to set the world on fire right away. But I wouldn’t bet against it.”
Jonah Tong has dominated every level of minor league baseball in 2025, and for at least one start, he did so in his first Triple-A game.
The Mets' young right-hander took the mound for Syracuse for the first time in his career and lived up to the hype. Tong tossed 90 pitches (59 strikes) across 5.2 scoreless innings while allowing three hits and two walks, and striking out nine batters against Rochester on Saturday night.
Tong generated 18 swing and misses and his fastball topped out at 98 mph. All three hits came in different innings, and had a runner reach scoring position just twice in his outing.
This latest start is another notch on what's been an incredible season for the 22-year-old. Tong, Joe DeMayo's No. 2 Mets prospect, took the baseball world by storm by demolishing Double-A hitting. Across 20 starts with Binghamton, Tong went 8-5 with a 1.59 ERA with a 0.92 WHIP while striking out 162 batters across 102.0 innings pitched.
New York promoted Tong, along with Jett Williams, Carson Benge and Ryan Clifford, to Triple-A earlier this month.
Tong is one of three top pitching prospects that the Mets have in Triple-A. Brandon Sproat has impressed with Syracuse this year, while Nolan McLean made his MLB debut on Saturday for the Mets.
Joe Schmidt’s side turned a 22-point deficit into a first win at Ellis Park since 1963. If this is a redrafting of the story, then the sport will be better off
For 18 minutes, everything was going according to script. The double world champions were running riot at Ellis Park, stomping over the gain line with every carry, shrugging off tacklers and hammering anyone unlucky enough to be wearing a gold jersey.
Australia had touched the ball twice before Kurt-Lee Arendse scored the opening try; once when James O’Connor kicked off, then again when Tom Wright spilled a contestable kick. Twelve minutes later André Esterhuizen sliced through the right before Siya Kolisi bulldozed over under the posts. Manie Libbok kicked seven extra points to nudge the score to 22-0 in South Africa’s favour. We’d not yet reached the quarter mark of this one-sided contest.
There was a lot to be impressed by Nolan McLean's MLB debut on Saturday with the Mets, but one moment stood out for many.
With the game still scoreless in the third inning, McLean pitched into some trouble. He walked the first two batters he faced and Cal Raleigh hit a one-out single to load the bases with Julio Rodriguez up to the plate. The rookie threw a sweeper that got in on Rodriguez's hands and he chopped the ball up the middle.
McLean, who was a two-way player and a multi-sport athlete in college, swung his glove behind his back and snagged the ball before throwing it to second to start the 1-4-3 double play to end the inning and the threat.
"The ball just kinda found me on that one," McLean said of the play after the game. "Got a little lucky, hit my glove. Wasn’t really something you draw up but it worked out."
While the ball may have found McLean, the nerves certainly didn't. Mets fans packed Citi Field on Saturday afternoon to see their top pitching prospect make his debut and he didn't disappoint.
McLean tossed 5.1 scoreless innings against a playoff team in the Mariners, and earned his first win after a 3-1 victory. The moment never seemed too big for him and that's what impressed manager Carlos Mendoza and his new teammates the most about the outing.
"He made an incredible play there, but at the same time, I was confident he was going to attack the zone and do the job that he was able to do in that moment," Francisco Alvarez, who caught McLean in Syracuse, said. "Maybe he would have given up one run or no runs in that situation, but I knew he was in a good spot and I had all the confidence in the world in him."
"Pretty impressive. Unbelievable. Everything we’ve heard from him. Stays on the attack," Mendoza said of McLean's performance. "The way he uses all of his pitches. For me, his ability to throw the secondary pitches when he’s behind in counts, to get back in counts, to get swing and misses, to get chases, the sinker, the velo.
"The way he fields his position. And sure enough, he gets a comebacker, we don’t teach that way, but not only to make the play, but to play catch in that moment. Bases loaded, one out, got Rodriguez at the plate, pretty much how he handled everything. Unbelievable."
Francisco Lindor was asked if he was more impressed by McLean's fielding or pitching. The Gold Glove shortstop paused for a second before saying with a smile, "That was kinda sick."
But like his teammates, McLean's demeanor was what stood out the most. "His conviction. He went out there, he was poised. Since yesterday, he was at ease and he executed from pitch one."
After his first successful MLB start, McLean has likely earned himself another start. We'll see if there are more web gems for the rookie to make.
Mendoza was a bit noncommittal about the 24-year-old's chances to stay in the rotation after his debut. The skipper didn't seem to have any cold feet when asked about it after Saturday's 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
"I think so," Mendoza said with a laugh when asked if it was safe to say McLean earned another start. "Don't you think?"
"We needed that. We needed that as a team, the organization, given where we are at and how hard it's been for us," the manager continued. "You start thinking about what it's gonna look like here pretty soon, and I feel good about our chances."
McLean delivered 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just two hits and four walks while striking out eight on 91 pitches (55 strikes).
Mendoza called the start "pretty impressive" and "unbelievable," adding that all of the best of McLean from mound presence to demeanor to staying on the attack and using all of his pitches was on display in Saturday's start.
"Just the way he handled pretty much everything... unbelievable," he said.
As expected, McLean leaned heavily on his off-speed pitches, throwing his sweeper 36 percent of the time and his curveball 21 percent. Overall, he tallied 11 whiffs on 38 swings and added 17 called strikes. The sweeper led the way with a 36 percent called strike-whiff rate. The sinker, which averaged 94.9 mph for the afternoon, was his second most-used pitch at 26 percent.
"For me, his ability to throw his secondary pitches when he's behind in counts to get back in counts to get swing and misses, to get chases, Mendoza said.
