Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:50 - Braves talk
13:59 - White Sox youth movement
21:50 - AL/NL Wild Card
32:45 - Series to watch

Entertainment, Culture, MLBScott LewisSeptember 12, 2025Comment

A Sprouting Sproat

The young arms of the Mets were the talk of the baseball world in August. While the Metropolitans slightly disappointed, posting an 11-17 record in the last month of the summer, there is reason to believe.

Nolan McLean has continued to impress with his deep bag of pitches and incredibly high spin rates while Jonah Tong, who had 2 starts for triple A affiliate Syracuse Mets, debuted against the Miami Marlins on August 29th and was fantastic. Miami scored four runs but only one run was earned, while Tong also struck out 6 and no walks.

Tong received 19 runs of support from the offense, something that few pitchers get, certainly something that no pitcher has received from the Mets. With the infusion of youth propelling the Mets to wins and a newly crowned #1 farm system in baseball, many are asking; “who’s next”.

There was a time where some could not imagine the Mets having highly touted pitching prospects, even saying the system was devoid of any pitching talent as recently as 2024.

The reality is, the Mets are close to calling up a third starting pitching prospect this year with the hopes he will make big starts as each game becomes more important.

With Kodai Senga seemingly losing command on his pitches and Carlos Mendoza seemingly being non committal on Senga’s next start, the manager did say it's their job to “get him right”. Instead of another start for Senga, there are some calls for Brandon Sproat to make a start for the Mets.

In his last inning for the Syracuse Mets, Sproat recorded nine strikeouts, allowed zero while pitching 7 innings. When veteran starters are unable to go past 5 innings of pitching, an issue that has plagued Sean Manea and Kodai Senga, front offices are forced to make moves.

Sproat, the third of the Mets pitching prospect 3 headed hydra, pitches primarily with a fastball that sits at 98mph and a changeup and slider that accompany it according to Baseball Savant. While he is highly regarded for the velocity on his fastball, there are control issues which have resulted in 53 walks so far during the 2025 MiLB season. However, Sproat has shown that he can minimize the impact of lefty hitters with his changeup while also generating high whiff rates with his sweeping slider.

With the Mets pitching woes being multifaceted, there have been times where the Mets have varied their usage of Sproat. Unfortunately, in his long relief stint, Sproat allowed seven earned runs over 3 2/3rds innings. That is probably to note for the Mets that Sproat is a starting pitcher.

With the early success of Jonah Tong and Nolan McLane for the Mets, the infusion of youth could be what catapults the Mets back to the NLCS and possibly further. With a sweep of Philadelphia behind them and an upcoming road trip to Cincinnati, the latter of whom are 4 games behind the Mets for the last wildcard spot, the Mets are hoping to get help from their sprouting farm system.

Articles, MLBSydon ParkerSeptember 3, 2025MLB, New York MetsComment

A Kids Game

The New York Mets starting pitchers are once again, in a flux. Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza delivered another unfortunate update to Mets faithful, announcing that Frankie Montas has a “significant” UCL injury and will be shut down for the season.

Many hoped Montas would find the same reinvented success that Sean Manea, Luis Severino, and Griffin Canning (prior to his achilles injury) found under the watchful eyes of pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and president of baseball operations David Stearns, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

Montas was already a late addition to the Mets this season as he dealt with a strained right lat injury at the beginning of the year, debuting on June 24th. In 7 starts, Montas pitched to the tune of a 6.28 ERA, and a 1.60 WHIP. With few options for starting pitching available for the Mets, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported, “Jonah Tong’s name is entering the conversation for this season.”

For those who do not know, Jonah Tong is the #2 prospect in the Mets organization. In 13 starts for Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Tong recorded a 1.59 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP and 162 strikeouts. Tong also pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the MLB All Star Future’s Game, where he said coaches told him to “Keep it simple. It's a kids game.”.

An oversimplification, but when you rack up strikeouts as Tong does, consistency and process are king. Tong’s numbers jump off the page and with the continual addition of a changeup pitch to his repertoire, he looks to continue to wow people, whether that be in interviews showing different pitch grips* or impressing in 2 starts with Triple A affiliate club, the Syracuse Mets.

While pitching in Syracuse, Tong, in 2 starts has posted a 0 ERA, struck out 17, a 0.94 WHIP and limited batters to a .190 average. Tong has drawn comparisons to Tim Lincecum with his high arm angle delivery and a 4 pitch mix featuring a 4 seam fastball, a curveball, a slider, and a changeup.

Tong’s arm angles per ProspectSavant, sits at 35.3 degrees and the consistency in release points from Tong’s second start in Syracuse may remind Mets fans of a certain late round pitcher.

With the success of recent call up Nolan McLean, an infusion of youth may be the answer for the Mets starting rotation woes and a chance to overtake the Phillies for the National League East.

*8 minutes 11 second mark.

MLB, ArticlesSydon ParkerAugust 25, 2025mlb, New York Mets, Baseball, pitchingComment

Mets Trade Deadline Report Card

While the initial results haven’t been what we expected, 12 days removed from the MLB Trade Deadline it is safe to say David Stearns, Steve Cohen and the New York Mets left said deadline feeling primed to compete for a championship. While they were not able to bring in any starters for the rotation, they were able to address deficiencies in the bullpen while also adding a starting centerfielder.

The issues with pitching were apparent, the last time a starter not named David Peterson went 5 innings, was June 7th. However, despite the lack of length from the starters, the Mets bullpen has maintained a 3.82 ERA since June 13th, 10th best in baseball. Combined with the high cost of starting pitching and the soon to no -innings limits on Kodai Senga and Sean Manea, all eyes were on upgrading the bullpen and centerfield.

The Mets traded Jose Butto, Blade Tidwell and a slew of other prospects highlighted by Drew Gilbert, for Gregory Soto, Tyler Rodgers, Ryan Helsey and outfielder Cedric Mullins. Gilbert, who was part of the return from the Houston Astros for Justin Verlander in 2023, did not have an immediate path to the majors with the roster set, which leads to a deeper dive into the Mets acquisitions.

The Acquisitions

LHP Gregory Soto: Acquired from the Baltimore Orioles, Soto is a 4 tool pitcher whose whiff rates are highest on his sweeper pitch. According to statcast, his sweeper has a whiff rate of 42%, while batters are hitting .172 against the pitch. A much needed addition to an overtaxed bullpen in dire need of another left handed option.

Grade: B+

RHP Tyler Rogers: Acquired from the San Francisco Giants, Rogers, a submarine pitcher, is reliant on his sinker and slider. Opposing batters are hitting .188 against his slider while they hit, .221 against his sinker. Rogers will immediately enter the circle of trust for Carlos Mendoza to lead to Edwin Diaz to finish out games.

Grade: A+

RHP Ryan Helsley: Acquired from the St.Louis Cardinals, Helsley profiles incredibly similarly to Edwin Diaz. Helsley is a high velocity pitcher with heavy reliance on his slider with opposing batters hitting .092 with a 45.6% whiff rate to go with it. With multiple options to close out games, the Mets have built a bullpen with the intent to perform well in October.

Grade: A

OF Cedric Mullins: Acquired from the Baltimore Orioles, Mullins will ideally be the every day starter in centerfield for the New York Mets. While Mullins does struggle versus right handed pitchers, this year versus left handed pitching Mullins hits .298. According to Statcast, Mullins is also a 2 OAA defender as well.

Grade: B

The Mets were able to continue to build a bridge to their closers and address the need for a second left handed relief pitcher. In the 2025 MLB Playoffs, the Dodgers starting pitchers threw on average 3.2 innings due to their extensive bullpen, and it seems the Mets are building with that statistic in mind. Steve Cohen started off his tenure as owner of the New York Mets saying he wanted to build, “an east coast Dodgers.”, and it could be coming true right before our eyes.

Overall Mets Deadline Grade: A

Articles, MLBSydon ParkerAugust 12, 2025New York Mets, baseball, MLBComment