Nolan McLean dreams of next great homegrown Mets rotation, too

Brandon Sproat had another strong start for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday in his last outing, a fact that wasn’t lost on a former teammate as he prepared this week for his second major league start.

“He’s made a real good adjustment lately, in the last two months, of just having a little more conviction behind his pitches,” Nolan McLean told Sports+. “He’s really pitching his butt off lately.”

For much of the summer, the question was which of the Mets’ highly touted pitching prospects, if any, would get first dibs on a major league debut. McLean, 24, got the call and had a successful first outing against the Mariners last Saturday in which he pitched 5 ⅓ scoreless innings.

But the Mets also considered the 25-year-old Sproat, who began the season as the organization’s top pitching prospect, for the call-up. The right-hander is clearly a possibility should a rotation need arise (and with Sept. 1 approaching, a possibility for the expanded roster). But it’s also hardly a slam dunk that Sproat will get an opportunity with the Mets this season.