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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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For New York Mets rising star Nolan McLean, just being included on Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic is what matters above all.
McLean made his rookie debut in eight starts down the stretch for the Mets last season, and he was so good that many believe he's just about ready to become the ace of a major league staff. He put up a 2.06 ERA and struck out 57 batters in 48 innings, while his bowling ball sinker and hammer curveball generated plenty of fun highlights for the pitching side of social media.
But while the 24-year-old was a worthy inclusion of Team USA's pitching staff, he knows his track record doesn't necessarily warrant getting the ball to start games over the likes of Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, and Logan Webb.
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On Thursday, McLean spoke about the role he has been told to expect on Team USA, and while he'd been given a less-than-clear picture of what he'd be doing, he was looking forward to meeting every challenge head-on. According to Joe Pantorno of amNY, McLean expects to pitch at least twice, serving in a "piggyback role" where he'll take over for one of those other starters for multiple innings at a scheduled point in the game.
“I don’t have a ton of expectations on what I’m going to go out there and do, but I’m just super excited to go do it,” McLean said, per Pantorno.
It's going to be a year of new experiences for McLean, who opened last season at Double-A and wound up throwing a career-high 161 2/3 innings between the minors and majors. He's ramping up for the most high-stakes games of his career so far in March, but also hopes to still be firing on all cylinders by October.
However, when your stuff is as good as McLean's, there's reason to believe you can meet any challenge put in front of you.
More MLB: Team Japan Suffers Blow; Padres Southpaw Ruled Out for WBC
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