The Mets will call up top pitching prospect to make his MLB debut this Saturday, . Hell step into the rotation spot vacated by . Jon Heyman of the New York Post that righty was also headed to the bullpen when hes ready to be reinstated from the injured list, setting the stage for either McLean or fellow prospect to make his debut. As we noted yesterday when the Mets moved Montas to the pen, the Saturday start aligns far better with McLeans turn in the Triple-A rotation than with that of Sproat. McLean has also simply outpitched Sproat this season, though both well-regarded prospects have excelled recently. The timing of the move likely isnt a coincidence. Saturday marks the first day on the calendar where theres not enough time remaining for players to accrue enough service to exhaust their rookie eligibility. By waiting until Saturday to promote McLean, the Mets have ensured that hell still qualify as a rookie next season and therefore still be able to earn the Mets potential future draft picks via the leagues Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) program. In all likelihood, McLean is just one of several top prospects around the league wholl be promoted after Aug. 15. McLean, 24, was the Mets third-round pick in 2023. Hes rated as one of the systems more promising young arms since that selection, but his stock has exploded in 2025 as hes ripped through Double-A and Triple-A lineups. McLean has pitched a combined 113 2/3 innings between those two levels and compiled a tidy 2.45 ERA while punching out 27.2% of his opponents. His 10.7% walk rate is still too high, but his huge 54.7% ground-ball rate can help to erase a few of those free pa ses by way of the double-play ball. This years terrific run has not Mike Tverdov Jersey only vaulted McLean toward the top of the Mets in-house prospect lists its made him a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. He sits 37th among all big league prospects , and on each outlets post-deadline reranking of the sports top young talents. The 62, 215-pound McLean is an Oklahoma State product whose athleticism draws plenty of praise. He was a two-sport star in high school, playing both baseball and football, and he was a two-way player at OSU, where he was a third baseman and outfielder in addition to his work on the mound. Hes since dialed in only on pitching and experienced an uptick in velocity, now sitting 95 mph with a four-seamer that can climb to 98 mph when he needs to reach back for a bit extra. MLB.coms report on McLean calls his sweeper a monster of a pitch with elite spin rate. Hes sitting 85.5 mph with that pitch and also mixing in a sinker, cutter and seldom-used changeup. Because McLean will retain rookie eligibility going into next year, he could earn the Mets a draft pick down the line. If McLean were to win National League Rookie of the Year or finish top-three in NL MVP voting next season, the Mets would gain that pick. Even if McLean doesnt hit either of those goals, the fact that hell be a top-100 prospect who accrued a full year of service as a rookie opens a three-year window for him to net the Mets a compensatory pick based on award voting. If McLean were to land any top-three finish in Cy Young or MVP voting before reaching arbitration, the Mets would still gain a pick. Players can only net their team one pick under the leagues PPI program, but the timing of his promotion means McLean could do so at any point from 2026-28. Setting aside the PPI aspect of the promotion, McLeans promotion comes at a time when he cannot accrue a year of service this season. Hell be controllable for at least six full years beyond the current campaign potentially more than that, depending on whether hes optioned at any point in the future. The earliest he could become a free agent would be after the 2031 season, and the earliest McLean could qualify for arbitration would be following the 2028 season. Colin Castagna Jersey