Nolan McLean allowed a career-high 10 hits and five runs with one walk and five strikeouts across five innings in a loss to the Yankees on Friday.
McLean wasn’t right from the jump in this start. His command was all over the place from the very first batter and it took a line drive that found a glove with the bases loaded and double play to hold the Yankees to just one in the first inning. Then, things got much worse in the second. He retired the first two batters he faced, but still wound up throwing 35 pitches and letting up three more runs in the frame. He was nearly out of the inning too before Ben Rice challenged what would’ve been a called third strike, got it reversed, and Cody Bellinger homered just after. It was the first home run McLean has given up as a big leaguer on his curveball as he just couldn’t make it move the way he wanted it to. By the end of that barrage, he’d allowed a hit to seven of the first 13 batters he faced. He rounded out through the middle innings though and saved his line some despite the damage already being done. This poor start was a crushing blow to McLean’s Rookie of the Year hopes and he’s scheduled to face the Phillies at home next time out.
