NY Mets prospect promotion can right a previous wrong, even if it's just for a look

The consensus feeling between New York Mets fans whenever there is a prospect playing well in Triple-A is for the big league team to call him up. There’s almost always room available for a pitcher. Even most position players can now wiggle their way up to the MLB roster thanks to the universal DH.

Pitching is the place where the Mets would make their next major promotion. They’ve already recalled all of their notable Triple-A prospects who can help the offense. It’s the pitching prospects we have yet to see outside of Blade Tidwell for a start.

It’s no secret Nolan McLean should be the next one to debut. And even if it’s just a test of what he can do, the team can right a previous wrong by timing it right.

If the Mets have any plans of using Nolan McLean in the majors this year, it should happen before the trade deadline

Let’s rewind to 2022. The Mets needed some firepower at the plate. Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Francisco Alvarez all had their opportunity. None of those at-bats, however, came until after the MLB trade deadline. While fans were screaming into the void on social media about giving them an opportunity, the Mets held all three back. As a result, none did a whole lot in their limited chances.

Worse than the results was what the Mets did instead of promoting a hot-hitting youngster. Acquiring Daniel Vogelbach was okay. His platoon partner, Darin Ruf, was disastrous.

We cannot safely claim more and earlier opportunities or any of the young players would have yielded better results than what Ruf offered. The fight here is about not waiting too long to test McLean at the major league level. Unless the Mets have no intentions of calling him up this year, they need to know if he can get major league hitters out or not.

The Mets are currently facing some questions in their rotation. The loss of Kodai Senga forces Paul Blackburn back into the rotation. Tylor Megill is going to be out for a while after some sloppy outings. Sean Manaea remains several rehab starts away from a return. Frankie Montas is already giving the Mets buyer’s remorse each time he makes a rehab appearance. If there was ever a time to boldly call up McLean, it’s getting near if not already here with Megill suddenly going down.

McLean began the season in Double-A pitching to a 1.37 ERA in 26.1 innings before his promotion. In Triple-A, he has slowed down mildly with a 2-3 record and 2.56 ERA. Despite the increased ERA, his WHIP has gone from 1.21 to 1.13. He hasn’t hit the proverbial wall many Mets pitching prospects seem to in Triple-A. What McLean is doing is coming back down to earth. If McLean is going to be a contributor this season in any capacity, the Mets can do themselves a favor by figuring out just how impactful he can be before they go out and trade for a Billy Taylor or Mychal Givens.