Mets rookie Nolan McLean took the mound for Team USA and against Venezuela in the 2026 World Baseball Classic championship on Tuesday night, and gave his team a chance.
It was an inauspicious start for the youngster, as he threw a 98 mph first-pitch fastball to Ronald Acuña Jr., and the former NL MVP laced the pitch up the middle for a leadoff hit. McLean would bounce back, though, getting Maikel Garcia to ground into a double play, erasing Acuña. Luis Arraez then followed up by flying out to center.
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McLean’s second inning started off great, with the young right-hander striking out Eugenio Suarez and Gleyber Torres. Ezequiel Tovar dumped an opposite-field single before Wilyer Abreu popped out to shortstop as McLean got through two scoreless innings.
Salvador Perez led off the top of the third with a single, and McLean struck out Jackson Chourio before walking Acuña with one out. The righty then shanked a curveball that got past catcher Will Smith, allowing the runners to advance.
Garcia capitalized by bringing home Perez with a sac fly, but that was the only damage in the inning as McLean induced an inning-ending Arraez groundout.
Unfortunately for Team USA, that run mattered a lot as the offense just could not get going in the early going. Team Venezuela’s starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, allowed just one hit and one walk in his 4.1 innings pitched as he blanked the high-powered US team.
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“Nolan McLean pitched his tail off,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said after the game. “We were not prepared for him to go five. We were thinking he’d give us three, he’d give us four and we would go right to the bullpen and see where the game is at. That’s a testament to him. He had unbelievable stuff tonight. He matched Eddie.”
McLean’s fourth inning of work was an easy 1-2-3 while throwing only 51 pitches.
Abreu, who had Venezuela’s biggest home run earlier in the WBC, took McLean deep on an 0-1 fastball that he launched 414 feet over the center field wall. That leadoff homer in the fifth gave Venezuela a 2-0 lead.
“I could’ve executed a little bit better,” McLean said. “But he’s a really good player at the same time. I would love to go back and make a different pitch, obviously.”
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McLean got the next two batters out before he was pulled after pitching 4.2 innings (63 pitches/44 strikes), allowing two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out four.
After the game, McLean rated his performance a seven out of 10, but was generally pleased with it.
“I felt good out there. Proud of the way I competed,” McLean said. “Stuff felt great, filling up the zone, tried to control everything I could.”
Although Bryce Harper‘s two-run shot in the eighth tied the game at 2-2, Venezuela would get the go-ahead run in the ninth to capture their first WBC Championship with a 3-2 win.
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But without McLean’s start, the game could have gotten away from Team USA.
“Whenever you go down two-nothing, it’s tough, but I thought Mac threw the ball great,” Harper said of McLean. “He’s a special talent; he’s going to be a special talent for a long time. We got a lot of great young guys in there who are going to play again on this team. Baseball’s in a really good spot.”
