It was a day of remembrance, but a night Nolan McLean might want to forget.
McLean's curveball spins at a higher rate than any other in baseball, but Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Cody Bellinger spun one over the short porch in right field into the stands. The three-run homer sank the Mets in a 6-4 loss to the Yankees.
It was the first time in more than a month McLean failed to go more than five innings, and only the second time in his last 14 outings. McLean was charged with five earned runs on a career-worst 10 hits over five innings in his ninth loss of the season (11-9). An NL Rookie of the Year candidate, McLean has looked like a seasoned veteran at times this season. But even the most dominant rookie starting pitchers have outings like the one McLean had against the Yankees.
Rookies slump, sputter and get knocked down, then figure out how to get up again.
No one knows this better than Bellinger, the 2017 NL Rookie of the Year. While his hitless stretches were few and far between with the Dodgers in 2017, there were bad strikeouts and bad games. Individually, they did little to put a dent in his candidacy. The overall body of work was too impressive. The same goes for McLean, who has carried a sub-3.00 ERA for most of the season and has quietly put up some of the best starting pitching numbers in the National League since June.
#five
McLean's curveball spins at a higher rate than any other in baseball, but Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Cody Bellinger spun one over the short porch in right field into the stands. The three-run homer sank the Mets in a 6-4 loss to the Yankees.
It was the first time in more than a month McLean failed to go more than five innings, and only the second time in his last 14 outings. McLean was charged with five earned runs on a career-worst 10 hits over five innings in his ninth loss of the season (11-9). An NL Rookie of the Year candidate, McLean has looked like a seasoned veteran at times this season. But even the most dominant rookie starting pitchers have outings like the one McLean had against the Yankees.
Rookies slump, sputter and get knocked down, then figure out how to get up again.
No one knows this better than Bellinger, the 2017 NL Rookie of the Year. While his hitless stretches were few and far between with the Dodgers in 2017, there were bad strikeouts and bad games. Individually, they did little to put a dent in his candidacy. The overall body of work was too impressive. The same goes for McLean, who has carried a sub-3.00 ERA for most of the season and has quietly put up some of the best starting pitching numbers in the National League since June.
#five
2 months ago
