BREAKING: Mets Make SHOCKING Move... This Changes EVERYTHING | Mets News

The New York Mets make a shocking move. This changes everything. David Stearns and company finally calling up a top pitching prospect to replace the open starting rotation spot of Frankie Montas, who is heading to the bullpen. So we're going to dive into all of that and who this prospect is only here on Mets Digest. I'm your host today, Mike Duda. We're going to talk about this prospect and the surprising move from David Stearns and company. But first, we got to talk about some subscribers. And that being the fact that 69.8% of you that watch these videos aren't one. So please do me a favor. Do us a favor here at Mets Digest. and hit that free subscribe button. That way we can bring content to you about the amazing. So without further ado, let's go ahead and dive right in. Starting it off with the breaking news. I personally heard it first from Anthony DeComo, although he was about 10 to 15 minutes late, according to the breaking news, which actually happened at 11 a.m. I heard it from DeComo around the 11:20 mark, and that is, of course, that the New York Mets will promote third ranked prospect Nolan McLean to make his MLB debut also the number one pitching prospect in our system we'll go over all that in just a little bit he will pitch Saturday against the Seattle Mariners a source confirms Andy Martino was first to report we'll hear from him in just a second as McLean produced a 2.98 ERA over 16 appearances at Triple-A Syracuse and should get a nice long look in the rotation, according to DeComo. So let's turn it over to SNY's Andy Martino. He says pitching prospect Nolan McLean will make his MLB debut starting for the Mets on Saturday, league sources say. SNY also confirmed it with the breaking news that the Mets are indeed calling up McLean. So this is news. This is an official report. The New York Mets are indeed calling up Nolan McLean to pitch and this comes after yesterday's news that Frankie Montas is off to the bullpen. Montas of course was a part of our rotation but has immensely struggled and will be over to the bullpen as SNY confirms that Frankie Montas has been moved to the Mets pen. Carlos Mendoza announced this was yesterday. The team has not decided who will take his place in the starting rotation for Saturday's game against the Mariners. Of course now they have it is indeed Nolan McLean and they say that here that top prospect Nolan McLean and Brandon Sprotare were possibilities the breaking news is there for you we're going to dive into that and we're also going to dive into Sprote we're going to talk about him but first it's rightfully so this was the right move to send Frankie Montas to the bullpen and I think at this point Clay Holmes also has to go again video coming on that later today about how the Mets did yesterday and a reaction to that phenomenal game we also got reaction videos coming out later as Pete Alonso did indeed make history So stay tuned for that. But Montas definitely needs to go to the bullpen. He hasn't been good. 6.38 ERA over 36 and two thirds. That is pathetic. That is absolutely abysmal for a pitcher in Major League Baseball. And I think the only reason why he's not going to AAA or being DFA'd is because he's owed $34 million by David Stearns. And they don't, the Mets don't want to depart with that money. Even though Steve Cohen is basically made of money and it seems like his money is unlimited. That's a lot of money. You don't want to part with that. You want to keep him. hopefully he has some upside in the bullpen but for now as we've heard from multiple sources it is going to be Nolan McLean now this comes after confirmation that Paul Blackburn will be back relatively soon and is also going to join Montas in relief as John Heyman an MLB insider says Paul Blackburn is coming up to the Mets for a bullpen role it was learned the Mets plan to bring up McLean or Sprote to start in that Frankie Montas starting rotation spot again at the time it was unknown all this news came yesterday in fact this one came this morning of course hours before it was official that McLean is coming up see Martino posted at just about 11 a.m. just a little bit before and again this is also the right move to send Blackburn to the bullpen you have to bring him to the MLB or else you have to get rid of him and he was in a deadline acquisition last year he was acquired at the trade deadline so you're almost forced to keep him he right now in 2025 has been struggling immensely oh and three 7.71 ERA that is putrid 1.98 WHIP a near two WHIP over six games four starts 18 and two-thirds he's returning from his second IL stint of the year again nothing on the transaction list on this front and obviously nothing on the McLean front yet we're gonna have to wait until Saturday for Nolan McLean to get officially called up Now, Paul Blackburn made a rehab start yesterday, so I don't know when that move is going to come. I would assume at absolute earliest this weekend, if not sometime next week, Paul Blackburn will be back joining the Mets for a bullpen role. But this opens up a prime opportunity. We're going to talk more about this tomorrow because there was an insider that actually discussed a role where you have some of the pitching prospects piggyback the starters because the Mets continue to have a terrible problem not getting length out of their starters. Of course, you hope that McLean is able to do it, but I really like what this insider had to say. Again, we'll talk about that tomorrow. Just think about that for now. And I find this move very, very interesting. You know me, I have been yelling constantly on this channel. I've been yelling constantly throughout my life about David Stearns not making a move. He wasn't doing anything. His team was on a terrible streak. Ten out of their last 11 games, they lost seven consecutive L's. Of course, they won last night. And what happened? Steve Cohen was there. He said, we haven't been playing well, but I still believe in this team. I will be at Citi Field the next three games rooting on the Mets, LGM. He showed up. He was there. But look at the wording of this tweet. We haven't been playing well. Five words that I think really motivated David Stearns. I find it ironic. He made this tweet on the 12th. He made this tweet yesterday morning. and then the news poured in about Frankie Montas now we're getting news about Paul Blackburn not going to the rotation even though he's a starter and now we're getting what Mets fans were finally asking for in Nolan McLean now Steve Cohen he said he originally said when he took over the team I'm not here to control the team I'm here to hire guys to do that David Stearns was a guy that he hired to go do that to go do the work of a general manager and I think just him showing up just him saying those five words we haven't been playing well those five words i think motivated david stearns to start taking some action and that is exactly what he did he did what Mets fans were asking get rid of Montas he didn't get rid of him fully again i understand the reasons why he's owed a lot of money so you threw him in the bullpen you're not bringing Paul Blackburn back into the bullpen into the rotation you're bringing him to the bullpen and of course you're bringing up Nolan McLean now personally I wanted the other option in Brandon Sproat originally because he has a lot of experience in Triple-A he's got nearly 130 innings pitched and admittedly I didn't do my homework on the McLean until I started to prepare for this video and then I realized McLean has a lot of Triple-A experience he has 16 games pitched 13 starts in Triple-A he's been down there he's done well enough he's been through all levels I just didn't want the Mets calling up a guy basically from Double-A who's made one or two starts in Triple A because the jump from Triple-A to the MLB is one of the biggest jumps you'll ever experience really in life so i didn't want it to be even more pressured by bringing him up from Double A to the bigs i want him to have some experience in Triple A that's exactly what he has he's been the better pitcher statistically i am all in on Nolan McLean so as always let's turn it over to a prospect outlook now the number three prospect in all of our system Carson Benge has now moved up to number one Jet Williams falls to two and then you kind of have a trickle down effect Jonah Tong actually moved to four instead of three so McLean moved up to take over Jonah Tong's spot so now McLean is three Tong is four and of course Sproat is five Nolan McLean the number one pitching prospect in our system number three overall 24 years of age he's a double righty 6'2 214 former third round pick back in 2023 so he's coming up relatively quickly less than two seasons in the minor leagues again ETA was this year he will be coming up on saturday fastball grade at a 55 curveball 50 70 on that slider again this is a 20 to 80 scale 80 being the best 20 being the worst so that slider is phenomenal 55 cut 45 change up 45 control for an overall 55 prospect so let's turn it over to mlb.com what do they have to say about mclean well he intended to play both baseball and football at Oklahoma State but ultimately chose to focus on the former that of course being baseball where he still played multiple ways as a reliever and a third baseman and an outfielder the Orioles took him in the third round in 2022 but did not sign him after a concerning MRI so McLean returned to post a 9-11 OPS and 330 ERA in Stillwater the Mets selected him in the third round in 2023 and allowed the former cowboy to be a two-way player up until late june of 2024 after he struck out 52.2 percent of the time through 17 games as a double-a hitter mclean finished with a 378 era and 116 k's in 109 and two-thirds innings between high a and double a we'll go back to the stats in just a little bit and it makes sense that he finished not so great because you're taking such an intense focus you need to have such great focus to be a major league baseball player even if you're in the minor leagues and to focus on two things is really really difficult and since the hitting wasn't working out the Mets made the right move they said no Nolan you are going to be solely a pitcher they told him go focus on the pitching and he obviously improved from there so to move on MLB.com says McLean's walk rate touch high in 2024 makes sense again because he was focusing on both pitching and hitting and probably had more of a focus on hitting because he was struggling at the plate, but they were consistent level to level. That's held in 2025, even as he's moved to the major league ball in AAA. Mets officials point out that he's an ultimate competitor on the bump. I love that. The Mets need a big energy guy right now. I love Jeff McNeil for a perfect example here. McNeil, every time he lines out or he doesn't do well, even if he hits it hard and gets robbed on a hit, he is screaming. He takes off his helmet. He screams right into his helmet because he's frustrated he's a competitor and his goal and desire is to win baseball games so I love that I love hearing that McLean is going to come up as a competitor and a guy that wants to win settling into more of a routine will only help his case as a starter and one who could be in Queens soon well obviously he is going to be in Queens and to wrap it up now with his focus fully on the mound McLean could be cleared for major takeoff in his second full season he already has He held his velocity well in year one, averaging 94 to 96, while topping out at 98, much as he did in college. There is some flat approach to his four-seamer out of his low release, and he gets ample arm slide movement on a sinker as well, leading to heavy ground ball rates. That's great. We love David Peterson because David Peterson gets ground balls. He keeps his pitch count low. He throws strikes. He produces ground balls. That's double plays. That's keeping home runs unavailable. You can't hit a home run if the ball is on the ground. We love pitchers that get ground balls. The real monster is his 84 to 87 mile an hour sweeper, a pitch with elite spin and horizontal movement averaging around 15 to 16 inches. That is more than a foot of horizontal movement. That is ridiculous. It just moves more than a foot with AAA Syracuse. McLean can use the pitch well running away from righties or back footing it to lefties his 88 to 90 mile an hour cutter bridges the gap between the two offerings and he also mixes in an upper 80s changeup and an occasional upper 70s curveball for a more complete arsenal he seems legit this guy is awesome i love the statistics the highest ERA he ever had was last year in double A where he posted a 4.19 and 81 and two-thirds but again he was focusing on hitting at that time he was coming out of being a hitter. He was also moving up in the levels. He moved up to Binghamton after being in high A. Every single jump is big, and of course, the jump from AAA to the bigs is the biggest jump, but I love the statistics. He has proven himself in the minor leagues, and he is finally getting a shot. Good for David Stearns to finally step up and make a move. I am loving this right now. I got some real hope right now for this franchise. Let's go down there in the comment section. Let me know if you agree or not. Do you like McLean being up in this rotational spot? Would you have Rather Sproat, do you still want Montas in the rotation instead? Are you someone that still believes in Clay Holmes as a starting pitcher? I personally don't. I think Sproat should be right behind McLean to take over Clay Holmes' spot. And again, we'll talk about this more tomorrow with an interesting theory from an insider that I personally love. But again, we'll talk about that tomorrow as this is unfortunately all the time I have for you in this breaking news edition of Mets Digest. Thank you so much always for watching, and let's go.