Freddy Peralta shortcoming will have NY Mets fans appreciating Nolan McLean more

How can we possibly love Nolan McLean more than we already do? Homegrown, dominant, and here to stay for the long haul. His rise was sudden, though warned. Dropping hitting and becoming your everyday run-of-the-mill top starting pitching prospect was the best thing for the New York Mets. He has been a different beast since putting away the lumber.

This year, he should have more help in the rotation with the presence of Freddy Peralta. The debate fans don’t care to get uptight about but have pondered, it’s one of these two who’ll start on Opening Day.

Peralta can be considered an ace by today’s baseball standards, but there is one shortcoming. Off of a great year for the Milwaukee Brewers, his starts still averaged only about 5.1 innings per. He retired more than 18 batters just once, logging 8 innings in his second start of the year. Meanwhile, McLean averaged 6 innings per start and made it past 6 innings twice in his limited 8-game sample.

It’s not as much a knock against Freddy Peralta as much as it is praise for Nolan McLean

Averaging 6 innings per start in 2025-2026 is fabulous. You’re a workhorse if you accomplish this. Starts 2 and 3 on the year for the Mets last year included retiring 21 Atlanta Braves and 24 Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up 4 hits in each outing, struck out 7 and 6, and most importantly to keep the pitch count down, didn’t walk anyone.

The Mets were sure to keep McLean’s pitch count in the low 90s. As such a vital part of the franchise’s future, it was necessary to show some caution.

Out in Milwaukee, the Brewers took a different strategy with Peralta. Relying on their bullpen, they didn’t ask a whole lot out of Peralta. He had sufficient rest between multiple starts. Multiple outings where he allowed 1 or no runs concluded with him throwing a similar high 80s-low 90s pitches and leaving with the lead.

How will the Mets ultimately treat Peralta? The current trajectory of a six-man rotation will give him added rest, but it never really seemed to convince Milwaukee to push him an extra inning. The Mets don’t have an abundance of optional relievers this year which could be hazardous. There’s also no Tyler Rogers to run out there every other day.

Plenty of circumstances can have Peralta lasting longer in games such as a weakened Mets bullpen where they need him for the 7th inning. However, it's his high strikeout count slightly above walk rate that should have him regularly reaching the low-90s by some point in the 6th inning. He probably is a 5-6 inning pitcher. McLean remains a bit more mysterious in terms of exactly what he can offer.