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PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper barely lifted his gaze from the dirt surrounding the left-handed batter's box as he sauntered back toward the home dugout.
Nolan McLean had befuddled the Phillies All-Star first baseman, curling in a 97.1 mph sinker at the top of the strike zone to pick up his 10th strikeout and close out a scoreless six-inning performance.
"It's just picking a spot to go after him," McLean said after his third strikeout of Harper. "Ended up going with the sinker, trying to go in on him. I don't really want him to get extended, but it's risky if he tries to turn and burn me on the insider corner that it could get away from me, but just had to trust Luis (Torrens) and what he was seeing, and I was right on the same page with him."
It was another dynamic effort from McLean, who scattered two hits and two walks across his seventh win of the season as he improved to 7-6 and trimmed his ERA to 3.34.
The Phillies' first hit off the 24-year-old right-hander was an infield single off his left leg. McLean walked the next batter then induced a double play as part of a run of 13 straight outs before he gave up a double to Trea Turner and walked Kyle Schwarber in the sixth inning before striking out Harper.
"With him, he can win up, he can win with spin down, he can win east-to-west and him doing that multiple ways in an outing makes it really tough for hitters the second and third time through the order to know how he's going to attack them," interim manager Andy Green said. "Really impressive. When he's filling up the strike zone, it's a lot of fun."
McLean entered the season as the favorite to win the National League's Rookie of the Year award, coming off last season's mid-August call-up when he posted a 5-1 record with a 2.60 ERA in eight starts and 48 innings — two below the threshold to be considered for a rookie.
But his first full season in the major leagues took a shaky turn in late May when he gave up 13 earned runs in two outings against the Nationals and Reds as his ERA sailed to 4.40. In Green's eyes, McLean has proven an ability to rise up the challenges at each step in his journey.
"He doesn't need the acclaim, doesn't need the attention, doesn't need people to tell him how great he is," Green said. "Just wants to compete. Those guys that are wired that way tend to handle adversity really, really well. He's not doing it for the fanfare. He's doing it because he just absolutely loves to be in competition."
Since those two rocky outings, McLean has only allowed more than two earned runs in one of his nine starts. He credited his success on Sunday with being able to land a first-pitch strike and a renewed focus on the deploying his four-seam fastball and sinker more regularly over his sweeper, which had been his bread-and-butter whiff pitch last season.
"I try to use (the fastball) as much as possible because I just want to go deeper into games," McLean said. "Getting whiffs is great and all, but it's really hard to get a ton of whiffs and go deep into games. You've got to have soft contact somewhere in there, and I think the sinker is going to be a pitch going forward for me that's going to get a lot of that."
More outings like Sunday and McLean's candidacy for Rookie of the Year could gain some upward movement. With his second double-digit strikeout performance of the season, McLean's 135 strikeouts lead all rookies and are fifth in the NL, behind only Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo and Paul Skenes.
The Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt entered the afternoon as the prohibitive favorite to land Rookie of the Year honors.
The second baseman is slashing .264/.359/.407 with 14 home runs, 38 RBI and 61 runs in 93 games, but it has been his defense that has padded his candidacy. Wetherholt's 16 outs above average is tied with the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong for second-best in all of baseball behind only the Royals' Bobby Witt Jr.
Sal Stewart could build a cases with the offensive spark he has supplied the Reds this season. The 22-year-old first baseman, is slashing .253/.334/.475 with 20 home runs, 70 RBI and 52 runs with 11 stolen bases.
The Nationals' Foster Griffin could be McLean's chief competition on the pitching side. The 30-year-old left-hander, who pitched in Japan the last three seasons, earned his first All-Star selection this season, posting a 10-2 record with a 2.71 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 116⅓ innings with 111 strikeouts so far this season
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Can Nolan McLean win Rookie of Year? With more starts like Sunday, maybe
Continue reading...
Nolan McLean had befuddled the Phillies All-Star first baseman, curling in a 97.1 mph sinker at the top of the strike zone to pick up his 10th strikeout and close out a scoreless six-inning performance.
"It's just picking a spot to go after him," McLean said after his third strikeout of Harper. "Ended up going with the sinker, trying to go in on him. I don't really want him to get extended, but it's risky if he tries to turn and burn me on the insider corner that it could get away from me, but just had to trust Luis (Torrens) and what he was seeing, and I was right on the same page with him."
It was another dynamic effort from McLean, who scattered two hits and two walks across his seventh win of the season as he improved to 7-6 and trimmed his ERA to 3.34.
The Phillies' first hit off the 24-year-old right-hander was an infield single off his left leg. McLean walked the next batter then induced a double play as part of a run of 13 straight outs before he gave up a double to Trea Turner and walked Kyle Schwarber in the sixth inning before striking out Harper.
"With him, he can win up, he can win with spin down, he can win east-to-west and him doing that multiple ways in an outing makes it really tough for hitters the second and third time through the order to know how he's going to attack them," interim manager Andy Green said. "Really impressive. When he's filling up the strike zone, it's a lot of fun."
Can Nolan McLean get back into NL Rookie of the Year conversation?
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McLean entered the season as the favorite to win the National League's Rookie of the Year award, coming off last season's mid-August call-up when he posted a 5-1 record with a 2.60 ERA in eight starts and 48 innings — two below the threshold to be considered for a rookie.
But his first full season in the major leagues took a shaky turn in late May when he gave up 13 earned runs in two outings against the Nationals and Reds as his ERA sailed to 4.40. In Green's eyes, McLean has proven an ability to rise up the challenges at each step in his journey.
"He doesn't need the acclaim, doesn't need the attention, doesn't need people to tell him how great he is," Green said. "Just wants to compete. Those guys that are wired that way tend to handle adversity really, really well. He's not doing it for the fanfare. He's doing it because he just absolutely loves to be in competition."
Since those two rocky outings, McLean has only allowed more than two earned runs in one of his nine starts. He credited his success on Sunday with being able to land a first-pitch strike and a renewed focus on the deploying his four-seam fastball and sinker more regularly over his sweeper, which had been his bread-and-butter whiff pitch last season.
"I try to use (the fastball) as much as possible because I just want to go deeper into games," McLean said. "Getting whiffs is great and all, but it's really hard to get a ton of whiffs and go deep into games. You've got to have soft contact somewhere in there, and I think the sinker is going to be a pitch going forward for me that's going to get a lot of that."
More outings like Sunday and McLean's candidacy for Rookie of the Year could gain some upward movement. With his second double-digit strikeout performance of the season, McLean's 135 strikeouts lead all rookies and are fifth in the NL, behind only Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo and Paul Skenes.
Who is Nolan McLean's chief competition?
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The Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt entered the afternoon as the prohibitive favorite to land Rookie of the Year honors.
The second baseman is slashing .264/.359/.407 with 14 home runs, 38 RBI and 61 runs in 93 games, but it has been his defense that has padded his candidacy. Wetherholt's 16 outs above average is tied with the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong for second-best in all of baseball behind only the Royals' Bobby Witt Jr.
Sal Stewart could build a cases with the offensive spark he has supplied the Reds this season. The 22-year-old first baseman, is slashing .253/.334/.475 with 20 home runs, 70 RBI and 52 runs with 11 stolen bases.
The Nationals' Foster Griffin could be McLean's chief competition on the pitching side. The 30-year-old left-hander, who pitched in Japan the last three seasons, earned his first All-Star selection this season, posting a 10-2 record with a 2.71 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 116⅓ innings with 111 strikeouts so far this season
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Can Nolan McLean win Rookie of Year? With more starts like Sunday, maybe
Continue reading...
