Nolan McLean is as advertised.
In fact, in his MLB debut, he had a start only matched by one of the most-hyped young pitchers in Mets history.
McLean went 5.1 innings on Saturday and struck out eight without allowing a run.
He’s only the second pitcher in Mets history to win his big league debut while allowing no runs and striking out at least eight, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
The first? Matt Harvey.
Yep, the Dark Knight.
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Harvey might bring some sad memories to the minds of Mets’ fans, but at his dawning, he was exhilarating.
There was nobody like Harvey when he came up. He captured the entirety of Queens with his brilliance.
It’s still impossible to forget the feeling of him going back out for that epic ninth inning in the World Series. Even without it working out, it’s a scene that’s locked into the memory banks forever.
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McLean has a long way to go even just to match the beginning of Harvey’s career, let alone make memories like that.
But where the Mets will be hoping McLean can outdo Harvey is in longevity. If McLean is still doing this in a decade, that’s a win.
Clearly, that’s getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. This is just start number one.
But he arrived as one of the top pitching prospects out of the minor leagues. He was supposed to look special eventually, and he chose to accelerate that timeline and look special right away.
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