Nolan McLean’s ability to battle, compete latest positive sign for Mets’ young arm

Seven of the first eight pitches from Mets right-hander Nolan McLean were outside the zone to start Sunday’s series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field. 

McLean, who would walk the first two he faced, managed to overcome the lack of command without walking another man as he pitched 5.0 innings of two-run ball on four hits and a hit batter with eight strikeouts in cool and at times blustery conditions.

“We could see it the first couple of batters he was missing arm side, he didn’t have a good feel for his pitches pretty much ’til the fourth inning,” manager CarlosMendoza said after the Mets fell 4-3 in 10 innings.

The right-hander said that the conditions made it so that he felt like his pitches were “moving a little bit more than they normally do,” and he just had to “pick out the right sight line.”

“At the beginning, the first three innings, especially the secondaries, the spin – the sweeper, the curveball – it was just a ball out of the hand,” Mendoza said. 

McLean indicated that the bigger challenge than getting the right feel came from throwing into a headwind.

“Throwing into the headwind is sometimes a little tricky, especially when my stuff’s moving a little more dramatically than it normally does,” he said. “I was just trying to find where I needed to start my pitches, and it was a little bit later than I wanted to be in that.

“But once I found it, it felt good.” 

And finding it when you don’t have it is what every manager wants to see from a guy who entered his first start of the 2026 season with just 48 big-league innings over eight starts under his belt.

“He was able to go out there and compete, continue to battle, and kept us in the game. Found a way. I thought by the time he got to the fourth inning, he was in a much better rhythm,” Mendoza said, adding later that it just goes to show “that on days that he’s not at his best, he’s still going to find a way to give you a chance to win and that’s what he did today.”

One adjustment McLean made in the final innings was going to his cutter and changeup more – he got Jake Mangum swinging through a low changeup to end a 1-2-3, eight-pitch fourth –  and that helped other pitches come along, too.

“Obviously, I didn’t have much feel early in the game of the sinker, but it started to come back to me later in the game,” the 24-year-old said. “Mixing in some four[-seamers] and some two[-seamers]. Was able to get some quick outs late in the game.” 

And the changeup is a pitch McLean is looking to use more, and he was “happy with how it felt in the cold weather.”

“I haven’t thrown it in the cold for a while now, so I was really satisfied with how it played today,” he added. 

On the 84-pitch afternoon, he threw six varieties of pitches and got 12 whiffs on 32 swings with 20 called strikes, good for a called strike plus whiff percentage of 38.1 percent.

And it was the changeup (six), curveball (six), and cutter (four) that accounted for half of those called strike plus whiff totals on just 27 offerings.

Nationals 6, Cubs 3: Home runs by Alex Bregman and Ian Happ are not enough

Before you start complaining about Shōta Imanaga serving up another home run at an inopportune time (with two runners on base), consider that you’re not going to win many games when you get only four hits and three of them are solo homers.

That was the tale of the Cubs’ 6-3 loss to the Nationals Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Imanaga started out well, striking out the first two Nats he faced. Then two of them singled ahead of Joey Wiemer smacking a three-run homer. Wiemer, you might recall from his time with the Brewers, but he’s been in four other organizations (Reds, Royals, Marlins, Giants) before the Nats claimed him on waivers in January.

Imanaga threw pretty well after that, too, allowing just three more hits and a couple of walks. He got charged with a run after he left the game. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible outing for Shōta, apart from the homer.

Meanwhile, Jake Irvin, who led all of MLB in home runs allowed last year (38; Imanaga was third with 31), stymied the Cubs for three innings. The only baserunner up to the third was Alex Bregman reaching on an error in the first, but he did not get past first base. The Cubs did hit some balls hard in those early innings, including this hot line drive by Nico Hoerner, caught by Irvin [VIDEO].

That ball was hit 102 miles per hour — tip o’ the cap to Irvin for that catch.

Bregman touched ‘em all leading off the fourth with his first Cubs home run [VIDEO].

Nice grab on that ball in the bleachers, too.

Two pitches later, Ian Happ went deep [VIDEO].

So now it’s 3-2 and the Cubs did get the tying run on base later in that inning when Nico singled with one out. As Carson Kelly struck out for the second out, Hoerner stole second and moved to third on an error, but he was stranded.

The bullpen did all right, though Phil Maton allowed a run to score in the sixth, charged to Imanaga. That made it 4-2, where it stayed until the eighth, when Keibert Ruiz hit a two-run homer off Hoby Milner to make it 6-2.

The Cubs got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on Bregman’s second homer of the game [VIDEO].

That was the end of the Cubs offense, unfortunately. As I said — four hits with three of them being solo homers isn’t going to win you too many games. The Cubs did prevent a seventh run from scoring off Daniel Palencia, making his 2026 debut, in the ninth. Palencia had allowed a one-out single, then struck out Brady House.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

Good defense all the way around there. Nice throw by Pete Crow-Armstrong, good relay by Dansby Swanson, good tag by Kelly.

The Cubs won a couple of ABS challenges in this game.

Here’s one by Carson Kelly on a called ball [VIDEO].

Here’s one by a Nats hitter on a called strike that was… well into the zone [VIDEO].

Overall, I don’t have too many complaints about Imanaga’s game. Yes, he gave up another home run, but he did strike out seven. Here’s more on Shōta’s outing [VIDEO].

So the Cubs begin the season 1-2, losing this series to the Nationals, not the way we’d like to have had 2026 begin. But there are plenty of games remaining and I’m not concerned. I was glad to see Bregman break out and have a two-homer game. I’m thinking there will be more of those to come this year.

A note from BCB’s JohnW53 on this game:

Last season, the Cubs gave up 23 triples, nine of them with nobody out, including six with nobody on base, as happened in the fourth inning today. All six of those runners scored, unlike the runner today. Four of the six did so immediately, two on wild pitches and one each on a double and groundout. The remaining two scored on a one-out groundout and one-out sacrifice fly. The fly turned into a double play.

Also from John, regarding the three solo homers:

Today’s game was the 32nd among the 19,506 that the Cubs have played since 1901 in which they scored three runs, on three homers. The have won nine of them. They finished only one previous game with three homers plus one other hit: a 6-3, 10-inning loss at Brooklyn on July 19, 1957. The hit was a single. They made three homers among five hits in four games: wins at home vs. the Giants in 1910 and at St. Louis in 1979, and losses at home vs. the Rockies in 2004 and Tigers in 2006.

The Los Angeles Angels will visit Wrigley Field for a three-game series (weather permitting, and it might not on Tuesday) beginning Monday evening. In the series opener, Edward Cabrera will make his Cubs debut. He’ll face Angels right-hander Ryan Johnson. Game time Monday is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Fan in Milwaukee catches home runs on consecutive days from the same seat at Brewers’ home park

A baseball fan in Milwaukee has a good glove — and apparently prime seats for catching home runs.

Said fan caught Chicago White Sox rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami’s solo home run against the Brewers Saturday night. The home run was the second of three for Murakami in his first three MLB games.

On Sunday, Chicago’s Colson Montgomery hit a first-inning grand slam to take a 4-0 lead over the Brewers. Montgomery’s blast traveled to the same terrace in right-center field at American Family Field as the one Murakami hit.

And the same fan was there to make the catch.

It’s unclear if our hero is a Brewers fan, a traveling White Sox fan, a season-ticket holder or none of the above. He doesn’t give much away with his gear.

But given that he takes his glove to games, he’s definitely a baseball fan. And he’s leaving the first Brewers homestand of the season with a couple of souvenirs and a cool story to tell.

White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami joins Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter as fourth player to hit home run in first 3 MLB games

Munetaka Murakami has done it again.

The rookie Chicago White slugger hit a home run Sunday off Milwaukee Brewers starter Brandon Sproat. The solo shot extended Chicago’s lead to 5-2 after a first-inning grand slam by Colson Montgomery.

The home run was Murakami’s third in his third MLB game.

Murakami started his MLB career on Friday with a ninth-inning home run into the right-field bleachers at American Family Field.

After a day off Friday, he hit another on Saturday, this time to right-center field in Milwaukee.

And now, in his third MLB game, he he has his third MLB home run.

Murakami’s yet to make his home debut in Chicago. But he may never want to leave American Family Field.

Murakami’s one of a handful of rookie sluggers to make an immediate impact with his bat in the majors. Notably, Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter hit his fourth home run in his third MLB game Saturday night.

Murakami, a 26-year-old from Japan, has now joined DeLauter, Trevor Story and Kyle Lewis as the only four MLB players to hit home runs in each of their first three MLB games.

It’s a remarkable start for both DeLauter and Muramaki. And after years of misery in Chicago, Murakami’s providing White Sox fans with something to be genuinely excited about.

Braves DH Dominic Smith hits walk-off grand slam weeks after the death of his mother: ‘I miss her dearly’

Dominic Smith started off with a bang in his debut with the Atlanta Braves. In the bottom of the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, Smith hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Braves the 6-2 win and send Atlanta’s Truist Park into a frenzy.

But the grand slam also came with an added weight: Postgame, Smith revealed that the magical moment came just weeks after the death of his mother, Yvette LaFleur, who died on March 15 after a battle with cancer. The designated hitter said that he felt his mother’s presence in the walk-off win.

“I got choked up a bunch of times and I’m trying to hold back tears right now. It’s just so special,” Smith said, via MLB.com. “I feel her every day. I miss her dearly. There’s not a moment where I don’t think about her.”

Atlanta is Smith’s sixth team in four seasons, with the veteran signing a one-year split contract with the team earlier this month. After Saturday’s win, Smith praised the team for their support over the past several weeks, as he had to leave preseason training camp for a little over a week to tend to his mother.

“This team is just so awesome. I’m so blessed because of the love they showed me. Every day I’d come in they’re asking about her, asking about her well-being, my well-being. That’s all they really cared about. They didn’t care about baseball,” Smith said, via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Just them showing me that love — I know she’d want me to be here. That’s why I stuck it out.”

(Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)
Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves via Getty Images

Smith was showered with love — or, more specifically, with water, bubblegum and hugs — from his teammates after crossing home plate.

Smith, who signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in February, came into the designated hitter role in an unusual way. In early March, Braves DH Jurickson Profar was hit with a season-long suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time in the past year — leaving a hole in Atlanta’s lineup.

Just over two weeks later — six days after the death of his mother — Smith signed the split contract with the Braves, and eventually won a spot in Atlanta’s lineup. Saturday was his first game with the team, with Drake Baldwin starting as DH in Kansas City’s opening day roster.

“They preach a family environment here,” Smith said, via MLB.com. “That’s what I feel from the group and the coaching staff. I’m just so thankful for the opportunity to suit up for the Braves.”