Dominic Hamel, Photo by Bronson Harris of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies
With the reporting of pitchers and catchers just around the corner, its time to reveal Metsmerized and Mets Minor’s updated top-30 prospects for the 2025 season. With several deserving players and only 30 spots, a handful of prospects just missed the top-30. Noting these players is important on a number of fronts, including that they can work themselves onto the top-30 list with a strong 2025 campaign. The list is headlined by a pair of former first-round selections, and a few former top-30 prospects.
Just Missed
RHP Dom Hamel, RHP Calvin Ziegler, LHP Felipe De La Cruz, C Kevin Parada, INF Colin Houck, 1B Corey Collins, RHP Will Watson, INF Nick Lorusso, RHP Luis Moreno, INF Luke Ritter, RHP Joel Díaz, RHP Douglas Orellana, RHP Austin Troesser, OF Willy Fanas, RHP Tanner Witt
Former first-round selections Kevin Parada and Colin Houck came to the Mets with hype and optimism surrounding them and their abilities, but neither has been able to cement themselves as a top prospect for the Mets, and have seen themselves slide down rankings. Parada struggled in 2024 to the tune of a .663 OPS, and his glove leaves a lot to be desired as he allowed 218 stolen bases since 2023. As for Houck, His career is yet to get off the ground. The Mets’ first round selection in 2023 is yet to post an OPS over .700, and his career mark sits at .617 through 17 games. His eye has been solid – posting an OBP over 100 points better than his average, but his bat is yet to make a meaningful impact or show any reason that it could be down the road.
Names such as Calvin Ziegler and Joel Díaz are former top-3o prospect arms, but injuries have derailed their progression to date. Ziegler was healthy and starting for the Brooklyn Cyclones at the start of 2024, but ended up missing basically all but two weeks of the season after being placed on the Injured List on April 16th. To date, he has only thrown 53.2 innings for his professional career, and only seven of them have come since the start of 2023. As for Díaz, he missed all of 2023 and part of 2024 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but will be fully healthy for his age 21 season. The exciting righty reached A-Ball St. Lucie as an 18-year old in 2022, and was a key piece to their Florida State League championship run.
Dom Hamel, who turns 26 in March, is an intriguing name for Mets fans to know heading into 2025. The 3rd-round selection in 2021 has been up and down these lists in recent years, but his 2024 season for Triple-A Syracuse was easily his worst to date. He posted a 6.79 ERA in 27 starts, with a BB/9 that jumped from 3.56 in 2023 t0 5.56 last year, a K/9 that plummeted from 11.61 to under nine, and 23 homers allowed in 124.2 innings. Hamel’s days as a starter might be behind him, which could benefit all parties involved. He still has a few plus pitches, and working in relief would allow him to focus more on those pitches, which are highlighted by a plus fastball and plus curveball. Limiting his pitch mix and allowing him to throw with more intensity out of the pen could help revive his career. As is for most pitchers at the level, getting Hamel out of the run-haven that is Triple-A baseball should help him, as well.
The Mets have a handful of corner infield bats who are interesting, including Luke Ritter, Corey Collins, and Nick Lorusso. Ritter is the oldest of the bunch at 27 and is limited defensively, but 26 homers is hard to look away from. Lorusso got off to a hot start in High-A Brooklyn, but got just eight games in Binghamton before he ended the year on the Injured List. Collins was the Mets’ 6th round pick in 2024 from the University of Georgia. He will be 23 for all of the 2025 season, but only has 23 FSL at bats to his name. He is one who can shoot through the system if he hits a groove, and will need to in order to keep pace with competition his age.
The phrase “interesting arm” is used a ton when evaluating minor league prospects, and the Mets have more than their fair share. For the sake of this list, the Mets interesting arms who just missed a top-30 ranking are: De La Cruz, Witt, Moreno, Orellana, Watson, and Troesser. Witt and Watson were both collegiate selections in the 2024 draft, much like Troesser was in 2023. De La Cruz, Moreno, and Orellana were all International Free Agency (IFA) finds who have a decent body of minor league pitching under their belt. Moreno has progressed the furthest of any of these names, logging six innings with Syracuse to end the year. He is another name who could have an impact on the Mets in 2025.
