Mets Top Prospects Number 1: Brandon Sproat

Brandon Sproat. Photo by Kylie Richelle of Syracuse Mets

No. 3: Brandon Sproat, RHP

B/T: R/R Age: 24
Ht: 6’3″ Wt: 215 lb
ETA: 2025 2024 Rank: 10th
Acquired: 2023 2nd Round Draft Selection

A prospect so nice, the Mets had to draft him twice. After selecting Brandon Sproat a second time, the Mets were able to sign the Florida Gator to join their farm system, and his first year could not have gone better. Sproat was a 3rd round selection of the Mets in 2022, but opted to return to the University of Florida for his senior year, and was promptly selected by the Mets again, but this time in the second round of the 2023 draft. After not pitching before the 2023 season ended, Sproat burst onto the scene in 2024 and dominated the competition.

He allowed just three earned runs over 25.1 innings with High-A Brooklyn before moving up to Double-A Binghamton, where he would spend the majority of the 2024 campaign. In 11 starts that totaled 62.1 innings, Sproat allowed just 17 runs, struck out 77, let up just 54 base runners, and won the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year award, capping off a dominating campaign. He spent his September in Syracuse, but struggled mightily before being shut down at the end of the year.

In total, Sproat posted a 3.40 ERA over all three levels, striking out 10.13 batters per nine innings, owning a WHIP of 1.11, and propelling himself to prospect levels that a Mets pitcher has not reached since the likes of Noah Syndergaard. Sproat is a regular among top-1oo prospect lists, and has reached as high as 24th on Fangraphs’ 2025 rankings.

Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 215 pounds, Sproat delivers a fastball that consistently reaches 97-99 mph, occasionally touching 101 mph, making it his most dominant pitch. Complementing this, he employs a sharp slider, a solid curveball, and a changeup that has become a significant weapon against left-handed hitters. His ability to mix these pitches effectively has been instrumental in his success.

Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 215 pounds, Sproat delivers a fastball that consistently reaches 97-99 mph, and has been recorded at touching 101 mph, making it his most dominant pitch. Complementing this, he employs a sharp and devastating slider, a solid curveball, and a changeup that has become a significant weapon against left-handed hitters, which has only helped his prospect profile. His ability to mix these pitches effectively has been instrumental in his success, and keeps hitters off their game.

Sproat, considering he is the best pitching prospect the Mets have had since Syndergaard prior to the 2015 season, represents a new age in Mets pitching development. Since the creation of their pitching lab in Port St. Lucie, the Mets have seen an increase in the development, and subsequent recognition, of their pitching prospects.

Sproat is currently leading a charge that includes the likes of Jonah Tong and Nolan McLean, both who have become top-10 prospects in the system and received notable top-100 rankings, while other notable draft picks such as 2024 second round selection Jonathan Santucci and third round selection Nate Dohm both prepare to begin their professional careers this spring.

After making seven Triple-A starts to end 2024, the call to Queens might not be far off for Brandon Sproat. Mets’ president of baseball operations David Stearns has already stated that Sproat will start the year with Syracuse, and will serve as a major piece to the Mets’ pitching puzzle. Sproat’s ETA is roughly the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025, meaning that his debut could be imminent. The Mets are already dealing with a significant injury to starter Frankie Montas, and the next man down could bring Sproat closer and closer to the Majors.

Above all, Sproat represents a future for the Mets that could include a longterm solution in their rotation. For the better part of the 2020s, the Mets have rebuilt their rotation almost yearly, and have had to do so with mostly pricey, older free agents or taking flyers on struggling starters. While it has worked in some cases, the Mets need to begin developing their own cost-controlled starting pitching. If things work out for Brandon Sproat as they appear to be heading, he can represent a new, and important, development for the New York Mets, and hopefully one that results in a championship.