Mets’ Nolan McLean has an unprecedented 39-inch combo that makes him unhittable originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Nolan McLean is one of MLB’s most absurdly gifted athletes.
This is a guy who could’ve played quarterback at Oklahoma State. Instead, he simply developed into a monster two-way baseball player for the Cowboys.
These days, he has become a rising star on the mound for the New York Mets. There are a bunch of reasons McLean is hard to hit.
One of them — well, really, two of them — might be the most notable.
McLean’s combination of his sweeper and his tailing sinker forms a tandem never seen before in MLB history.
His sweeper moves 21 inches to his glove side. His sinker moves 18 inches to his arm side.
Never before has a pitcher had two pitches move 39 combined inches in opposite directions, at least in the era where this information is tracked, according to MLB.com’s Mike Petriello.
And if you’re wondering — yes, it looks as ridiculous as you think:
Wrote about Nolan McLean and his highest-spin-on-record stuff ahead of his start in LA tonight, primarily this fun fact:
⬅️Sweeper: 21 inches glove-side
➡️Sinker: 18 inches arm-side39 inches in opposite directions? That’s the biggest sideways gap of anyone we’ve seen. pic.twitter.com/FMvHye5fWu
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 14, 2026
Sometimes, when pitches move that much, they can be hard to harness. But right now, it appears McLean has everything under control.
That’s certainly scary for opposing hitters. Even just one of these pitches from McLean would be tough to handle. Both? Good luck.
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