Billy Amick. (Photo Credits: Syracuse Mets)
Triple-A Syracuse Mets (38-30) enter their final week of play with a two-game deficit to the Rochester Red Wings, giving themselves one last chance to surge into the International League playoffs. They are set to host the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (32-36) for their final six-game set of the season, a favorable matchup as they look to overcome increasingly long playoff odds in the final week.
With their season on the line, the Mets promoted top prospect Jefferson Rojas to Syracuse from Double-A Binghamton, where he had posted a .929 OPS with nine homers and nine other extra-base hits. Coming back in return from the Chicago Cubs for the package of starter Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor, Rojas instantly became the Mets’ top prospect and has taken his offensive game to another level.
He’ll join an already potent Syracuse lineup, which has been led in large part by more unexpected contributors. 2022 fifth-round selection D’Andre Smith has posted a .930 OPS since being promoted from Double-A, where his OPS was .650. Veteran slugger MJ Melendez‘s OPS in September currently sits at an astronomical 1.333, which is just a few ticks better than Billy Amick‘s 1.004.
The Mets sit behind the second-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and first-place Red Wings, both of whom face easy draws for their final series of the season. Rochester will travel to upstate New York to face the 31-35 Buffalo Bisons, while the RailRiders play host to the 29-39 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Fresh off their weekly Monday off, every arm will be available at the disposal of the Syracuse coaching staff. The offense has carried the load for the Mets to start the month, but a fully rested staff gives the team a chance to make the final push that they desperately need.
Top prospects Jack Wenninger and Jonathan Santucci have both pitched to ERAs of 3.00 or under with a strikeout rate per nine innings better than nine. Expect to see prospect Gary Gill Hill, who turned in five innings of one-run baseball with four strikeouts in his Triple-A debut.
The math for the Mets is simple: they need to play two games better than the Red Wings and one game better than the RailRiders to be able to at least tie atop the division. If the Mets drop at least four games in this series, they will need the Red Wings to get swept to be able to tie.
After an incredibly long season, it all comes down to these six games for the Mets. Syracuse has made the playoffs just once in its now eight seasons as the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, and this would be their first appearance since the 2021 campaign. The first five games of this series have a scheduled first pitch of 6:35 pm ET, with a first pitch of 1:05 pm ET on Sunday for their final game of the season. All action can be found on MLB.TV.
