WBC in the rearview for Nolan McLean, the regular season on the road ahead for the Mets

The Mets Pod

SNY

Keith Hernandez, Sports, The Mets Pod, Joe De Mayo, Ny Mets, Mlb, New York Mets, Connor Rogers, Mets, Baseball, Sny, Joe Demayo, Andy Martino

4.6 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo put the wraps on the WBC, welcome Nolan McLean back to the Mets, and dive into the team's final roster decisions. Leading off, Connor and Joe look back at the World Baseball Classic and toward what it can be in the future, then turn their full focus back to the Mets and the battles for the final bullpen and bench spots. The guys also study the state of Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, and the starting rotation, go Down on the Farm to preview this year's Spring Breakout Game, and answer Mailbag questions about Ryan Clifford, Mark Vientos, and prospect Zach Thornton. Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today’s Show: 00:00 Welcome to the show 01:25 Nolan McLean and WBC recap 05:40 Mailbag - When's the best time for the WBC? 11:05 Roster Crunch Time - the final Benge/Bench spot(s) 18:00 Roster Crunch Time - the final bullpen spot 22:45 State of the Starting Rotation: Sean Manaea 25:15 State of the Starting Rotation: Kodai Senga 28:25 Down on the Farm: Spring Breakout Game 31:30 Mailbag: Will Ryan Clifford start at 1B at some point in 2026? 33:50 Mailbag: If not the roster, where to for Mark Vientos? 35:55 Mailbag: Zach Thornton call up? 38:10 Closing Thoughts

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Mets Pod on today's show. Camp continues as Carson Benj stays hot.
0:04.7	Joe and I go over the state of the rotation and much more.
0:07.9	We also recap the WBC coming to an end with Nolan McLean having a solid showing in the championship game despite a USA loss.
0:15.8	As always, we close out the show answering your mailbag questions.
0:19.5	So subscribe to the Metspot at Apple Podcasts, Spotify.
0:22.5	You can watch every episode on SMY's YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcast.
0:34.6	What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Mets Pod. I'm your host, Connor Rogers, joined as always by my co-host, Joe DeMayo, WBC, in the books. A lot of great moments, Joe, obviously not how the United States was hoping for it to end. We as Met fans got to see Nolan McLean pitch on a pretty dang big stage. He was pumping 99. We were talking about it before the show. We were like, all right. Nolan McLean is not really ramping up anymore. But how are you, my friend? I'm great, Connor. We're a week and a day from regular season baseball. Oh, yeah. The Mets made it. Most importantly, the Mets made it through the world baseball classic healthy.
1:14.7	So I consider a resounding success despite USA not being able to come through and win at the end.
1:21.6	Yeah.
1:22.0	I mean, the bottom line is, and we could have a larger WBC combo quick at the top here.
1:26.8	And then we'll get right back to
1:27.8	Mets camp and everything going on specifically with the team who a lot of guys are performing
1:32.8	at a high level for those that have missed Mets camp so far. We're going to get into Carson Benj
1:37.3	still shining and the state of the rotation as well. But Nolan McLean, I thought it looked pretty good, Joe.
1:45.5	The bottom line is it's funny how you view a start if the United States could actually
1:49.6	manufacture a run or two against Erod of all people, Eduardo Rodriguez.
1:56.4	It was a tough, tough lineup to watch.
1:58.8	McLean got into a couple jams, worked out of most of the trouble.
2:01.7	He obviously gave up the solo home run to Abraeu as well.
2:05.3	But from a stuff perspective, Joe, you had to be pretty happy with what you saw.
2:09.7	He's so nasty, Connor.
2:11.3	I know he gave up a couple runs and there was a lot of online chatter because USA, as you said, didn't score.
	...

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