Stephen Gonsalves/Jay Biggerstaff (USA Today)

With the Mets claiming Stephen Gonsalves off waivers, MLB Pipeline has updated their top 30 Mets prospect ranking. Now, Gonsalves is rated as the 23rd best prospect in the Mets farm system. With Kevin Smith at 11 and Thomas Szapucki at 12, this means Gonsavles is the third best left-handed pitcher in the Mets system.

Entering the 2018 season, MLB Pipeline had rated Gonsalves as the Twins third best prospect, the ninth best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, and the 64th best prospect overall. This was all part of a meteoric rise for Gonsalves before he began experiencing some injury issues like the stress reaction in the elbow/forearm of his pitching arm in May of 2019. Even with those injuries, Gonsalves still has promise:

Outside of an inflated walk rate in the Minors, Gonsalves wasn’t hittable and posted low ERAs in both Double-A and Triple-A when healthy, using his typical feel for pitching and deception to allow his largely average stuff to play up. His fastball will sit in the low 90s, though he can reach back for more on occasion, and he throws it with good life. His sinking changeup is his best pitch, a plus offering that he keeps down in the zone. He mixes in his average curveball effectively.

Gonsalves made his Major League debut with the Twins in 2018. In four starts and three relief appearances, he was 2-2 with a 6.57 ERA, 2.027 WHIP, 8.0 BB/9, and a 5.8 K/9. With his injuries, Gonsalves made six starts and two relief appearances in the minors. He was 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA, 1.231 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9, and a 14.8 K/9.

According to Fangraphs, Gonsalves still has one minor league option remaining. With his having an option remaining, the Mets will have the option of having Gonsalves begin the year in the Syracuse should he not make the 2020 Opening Day roster.