Mets' Nolan McLean makes adjustments, battles through tough spots in promising start vs. Marlins

Nolan McLean’s job-performance self-appraisal was succinct.

It had the added benefit of being accurate.

“It was good,” McLean said a few minutes after the Mets’ 10-1 trouncing of the Marlins on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

McLean threw 94 pitches in five innings and limited the Marlins to a run and two hits as his ERA fell from 4.40 to 4.21. He improved to 3-4 to help the Mets complete the three-game series sweep.

The Mets (26-33) have won four straight and will begin a six-game West Coast road trip on Monday in Seattle.

“It’s big the way we’ve set ourselves up,” McLean said. “It’s definitely some good momentum.”

Carson Benge led off the bottom of the first with a home run, Marcus Semien hit a two-run homer in the second and Juan Soto crushed a 433-foot grand slam in the sixth.

But those were just sidebars to the main story.

Which was McLean.

Although it was not a full-blown crisis, there was concern about the 24-year-old, who was coming off consecutive losses, including the shortest start (3 1⁄3 innings) of his still-nascent career last Monday.

And so the initial questions to Carlos Mendoza before the game were about McLean. What did the manager want and need to see from him? What did he see in the top-of-the-rotation starter’s previous two outings, in which he was strafed for a combined 13 earned runs and 13 hits by the Nationals (on May 19) and Reds (on May 25)?

“There’s a few things that he’s got to get better [at],” Mendoza said. “I think his ability to compete in the strike zone with the secondary pitches — the sweeper, the slider — because we’ve seen teams, once they recognize he’s not able to command those pitches in the strike zone, they’re just going to stay aggressive on the hard stuff, whether it’s the sinker, the fastball, the four-seam. And I think that’s where it starts.

“We know how elite he is at spinning the baseball. But [he’s] got to be able to compete in the strike zone. At this level, teams are going to make adjustments. Hitters are going to make adjustments. That’s what makes this a grind at times. This is the first time he’s been challenged at this level, but [if] anybody’s equipped to make adjustments and compete, it’s Nolan.”

It was an approach that was fruitful for Saturday’s starter, Christian Scott. Scott earned his first major-league win in the Mets’ 6-1 Hall of Fame Day game by limiting the Marlins to one run and five hits and striking out eight.

In his five innings, Scott’s coterie of pitches kept Miami hitters off-balance and guessing. Of the 96 pitches he threw, 40 were four-seam fastballs. Another 36 were sweepers. He threw seven cutters, seven splitters, three sinkers and three sliders.

“The sweeper was a big part of it,” Scott said after Saturday night’s game. “Fastball command and sweeper command were huge for me today, especially to lefties. Being able to back-door that pitch pretty consistently was big for me. Being able to get ahead of hitters and put-away pitches with guys on base — they made me work, for sure; credit goes to them — but I felt like I did a good job competing in the strike zone.”

In the getaway day matinee, McLean channeled his inner Scott by using six pitches against the Marlins (26-34). He threw 22 sinkers, 22 cutters, 21 sweepers, 11 curveballs, 10 changeups and eight four-seamers.

McLean’s use of a variety of pitches pleased Mendoza, as did the fact that he “had to battle.” Miami had runners on base in three of McLean’s five innings.

“He was able to battle [and] make pitches when needed,” Mendoza said. “Especially with traffic. Got us through five. You take that outing but obviously understanding there’s some improvement there, but he is going to continue to work. It was good to see him battling and getting the job done.”

McLean essentially echoed Mendoza.

“It’s always good to leave guys stranded out there,” said McLean, who walked five and hit a batter. “It’s nice when you can get a good ground ball or a weak flyout. That always helps. Any time I can get out of a jam — obviously I don’t want to pitch [in jams] — but any time you get out, it’s a good way to be.”

And he professed not to be worried about his control.

“There’s times where I pick spots where I’m going for an all-or-nothing punchout or a walk and not really giving in to the guy at the plate,” said McLean, who struck out two. “Obviously, yeah, you lose it for a few pitches and it’s hard to get back in the zone. And the hit by pitches, I mean, I’m trying to go in on guys, and sometimes they get away from me a little bit.”