Former New York Mets prospect Robert Whalen has announced his retirement from baseball. As Whalen noted in his announcement on Twitter, the decision came as a surprise for the 25 year old pitcher.

Whalen was the Mets 2012 12th round draft pick out of Haines City High School (Haines City, FL). Back in 2015, John Sickels rated the right-handed starter the Mets 14th best prospect.

Whalen would be traded by the Mets during that 2015 season along with John Gant to the Atlanta Braves for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. The deal proved to be a key move to help propel the Mets first to the division and later the World Series.

All trades are difficult, and this one was a little more difficult for Whalen as he grew up a die hard Mets fan. As he would tell MMN’s Teddy Kline his favorite player was Mike Piazza, and growing up, he loved going to Shea Stadium to watch him play.

As difficult as leaving the Mets was, Whalen has battled anxiety and depression since high school. Whalen would describe the impact it had on him personally and professionally, and as he would tell Greg Johns of MLB.com, it would lead to him briefly stepping away from baseball during the 2017 season.

Whalen has become vocal about his battle, and he’s been trying to help others. As he’s said, “We need to change the stigma that you’re fragile if you talk about it, because that’s not the case. We need to continue the conversation.”

Whalen has continued the conversation and did so again in his retirement announcement saying, “I’ve publicly shared my battle with depression/anxiety over the last 2 years and in that time I’ve been able to learn a lot about myself but most importantly I learned that I can have a fulfilling life outside of baseball.”

Hopefully, Whalen having shared his story has had a positive impact upon the lives of others who are going through the same battles he has.