Nolan McLean was looking more like Nolan Ryan out there on Thursday night.
The New York Mets righty McLean drew the start on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. During a second inning at-bat by Arizona DH Adrian Del Castillo, McLean fired one of the gnarliest sweepers of all-time.
On an 0-1 count, McLean let loose an 85 mph sweeper … with 26 inches of horizontal break … that was placed absolutely perfectly on the outside corner. Here is the video of the pitch, which even left the Mets television announcers at a loss for words.
Nolan McLean's Sweeper broke 26 inches and is absolutely dotted.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 9, 2026
"I don't know if I've ever seen anyone throw stuff that moves in that way." pic.twitter.com/bEUJdWttQJ
Del Castillo would go on to ground out in the at-bat. But McLean still managed to fan eight batters through 6.1 impressive innings on Thursday.
Unfortunately however, McLean was let down by his bullpen after exiting in the seventh with a 1-0 lead and two runners on base. Mets reliever Luke Weaver came in and allowed both inherited runners to score plus another two Arizona batters as the Mets finished the frame trailing 4-1 instead.
But that hardly diminishes what the 24-year-old McLean has accomplished in his brief MLB career thus far. As a rookie last season, McLean was 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over eight starts. Then in his first two starts of the 2026 season, McLean went 1-0 with a 2.62 ERA and a glowing 0.87 WHIP.
We have seen some pretty nasty sweepers in the past (usually from fellow NL pitching phenom Paul Skenes). But an 85-mph dart with over two feet of horizontal break deposited perfectly on the corner from McLean is in an entirely different category of filth.
