Nolan McLean Injury: Fighting through illness
McLean has yet to report to Team USA while he recovers from an illness, but manager Mark DeRosa said Monday that the right-hander is tentatively scheduled to start March 10 against Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.
According to Laura Albanese of Newsday, McLean had been experiencing vertigo-like symptoms, which have since subsided. McLean was able to throw a side session a couple days ago and is slated to throw on the back fields of Mets camp Wednesday, per Albanese. Assuming all goes well following that workout, McLean will join up with Team USA in Houston ahead of its first game of pool play Friday against Brazil before making a start four days later. McLean earned his spot on the USA roster after a stellar showing with the Mets following his late-season call-up from Triple-A Syracuse, going 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 48 innings through his first eight big-league starts. The Mets have already named offseason pickup Freddy Peralta as their Opening Day starter, but McLean is a good bet to make his 2026 debut at some point during team's first series of the season versus the Pirates.
