Ryder Ryan/Photo by Ed Delany

Last season, right-hander reliever Ryder Ryan was the punchline about jokes regarding his inclusion in the deal that sent Mets outfielder Jay Bruce to the Indians. Now, he is an All-Star in advanced Single-A and is moving quickly through the ranks.

The All-Star game is nothing new to Ryder Ryan. He was an All-Star last season while still pitching in the Indians organization. Ryan struggled in the second half before coming to the Mets. Ryan is still new to the pitchers mound. He was a third baseman in college and had only one appearance on the mound.

Since becoming a Met, Ryan has posted a 1.85 ERA across 34.1 innings with 38 strikeouts and a 0.88 WHIP. Ryan features a solid fastball which is in the 96/97 MPH range and also has a good slider.

This year for the St. Lucie Mets, Ryan posted a 1.77 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with 23 strikeouts in 20.1 innings. The numbers were good enough to earn him a promotion to Binghamton and an All-Star nod. He will not be pitching the game because he is not in the league anymore, but it nice to see him get recognized for a great first half.

The recently turned 23-year-old allowed only one an unearned run and struck out two in his Double-A debut on Wednesday.

Not bad for a 30th round draft pick who many scoffed at when the Mets got him. Ryan is a legitimate relief prospect that could be on the Mets radar as early as next season.

His teammate, Andres Gimenez, had a case to be an All-Star too. Gimenez is hitting .287/.354/.433 with a 127 wRC+ in a league where is significantly younger than everyone else. He’s also improving as time continues. He hit .303/.368/.434 with 11 steals and 13 strikeouts in May. His 16 steals rank second this season.