The Mets have enjoyed success throughout their Minor League system in 2025. Triple-A Syracuse is on the brink of the International League playoffs, Brooklyn just advanced to their first championship series, and St.Lucie won both halves of their regular season. Meanwhile, the Rumble Ponies won a franchise-high 90 regular-season games, dominating the Eastern League throughout the campaign.

Baseball America recently profiled the Mets’ system, calling its farm “the most productive system in 2025”. BA attributed their rise to the embarrassment of quality starting pitching emerging from the minors.

The rise of Rumble Pony southpaw Jonathan Santucci exemplifies the club’s development pipeline. In his postseason debut, and on the heels of a fabulous regular season, Santucci twirled 4.1 frames of one-run ball, en route to a 3-1 victory. Chris Suero added some crucial insurance with an eighth-inning 110-mph, 428-foot home run.

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Santucci kicked off his night with a laborious 25-pitch first inning, but limited the Patriots to one run. The Patriots had the lefty on the ropes early, stringing together three baserunners in the first and causing some stirring in the Ponies’ on-the-field bullpen down the left field line. After a visit from the pitching coach Daniel McKinney, the UConn product buckled down, retiring right fielder Garrett Martin on a well-struck grounder that third baseman Jacob Reimer cleanly fielded.

From there, the lefty settled in, dancing in-and-out of trouble throughout the night. Santucci threw from a true three-quarter arm slot, showcasing a fastball in the mid-90s and a true slider in the 86-88 mph band. He rounded out his arsenal with a change up in the same range as the slider and a popped, occasional curveball.

His outing was a culmination of a successful first professional campaign and truly a microcosm of his entire season. After a trying stint to start his season, Santucci made some mechanical adjustments to increase the IVB on his fastball, a change that Jorge Eckhardt recently chronicled. Afterwards, the southpaw emerged as not only the best starter on his team, but developed into one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball, posting a 1.96 ERA over his last 17 starts.

Somerset’s most serious offensive threat came in the fifth. Patriots first baseman Tyler Hardman lofted a can of corn into right field that bounced off right fielder D’Andre Smith‘s glove. Hardman cruised to second on the E9.

Two outs later, Hardman trucked home on a single to left that seemed certain to give the Patriots the lead. Certain until left fielder Nick Morabito unleashed a cannon of a throw that arrived on a bounce to nab Hardman at the dish.

After Somerset took the early lead, the Ponies tied the game in the fourth inning. JT Schwartz drove in D’Andre Smith with a line drive up the middle. For Schwartz, it was his second postseason appearance for the Ponies, who also appeared with the club during their postseason push in 2023.

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The following inning, Binghamton took the lead for good. With William Lugo dancing off third, Patriots starter Ben Hess uncorked a wild pitch, which foretold the end of his night. Hess lasted one more batter, retiring Jacob Reimer to end the frame.

In the eighth inning, Suero added some insurance, launching a 428-foot home run over the left field fence off reliever Baron Stuart. Schwartz’s game-tying single and Suero’s shot both added 13 percentage points towards Binghamton’s win probability.

Alongside Carson Benge, Reimer, Ewing, and Morabito joined the Ponies midseason and immediately provided a boost to the club’s postseason aspirations. On the back of the newcomers, the club posted a 45-24 record, tops in the Eastern League. Reimer manned the corners, providing a .279/.374/.479 triple-slash and tallying nine roundtrippers.

Ewing contributed a .339/.371/.430 slashline, wrecking havoc on the bases with his 12 stolen bases. Morabito served as skipper Reid Brignac‘s utilityman throughout the season, gathering time at all three outfield spots, while slashing and dashing his way as a regular second hole occupant.

Each player primed themselves as Major League call-ups as soon as next season.

The team’s next game is Thursday, 9/16, at 6:07 pm at Mirabito Stadium. Mets RHP Jack Wenninger is slated to face RHP Carlos Lagrange. With a win, the Rumble Ponies will advance to the Eastern League Championship Series to face either the Erie Seawolves or the Altoona Curve.