Billy Amick. (Photo Credits: Syracuse Mets)
With 11 games remaining on their 2026 schedule, the Syracuse Mets have surged to just two games back of first place in the Triple-A International League standings. After a 5-2 start to September, the Mets jumped multiple teams in the standings and are now in prime position to make one final push to claim the top spot in the East Division.
Leading the charge this month has been an offensive unit that has been brutalizing opposing pitching. Five Mets have posted an OPS over 1.000 this month, but perhaps the most surprising offensive contributor has been 2022 fifth-round selection, D’Andre Smith.
After posting a measly .650 OPS in Double-A with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Smith owns a .982 mark in 22 games with Syracuse, which includes a slash line of .333/.419/.481 (.900 OPS) this month.
From the right side of the plate, Billy Amick has continued to mash. He has homered in three of his last five games, bringing his Syracuse total to six in 14 games and 36 on the season. Amick was part of the return the Mets got for veteran lefty A.Jx Minter at the trade deadline, and he helps paint a bigger picture of an infusion of strong prospects into the Mets’ minor league system.
Of late, other names such as infielder Émilien Pitre and starter Gary Gill Hill have been added to the roster and made an immediate impression. Pitre’s .782 OPS is 21 points higher than his mark with Binghamton, and Gill Hill turned in five innings of one-run baseball with four strikeouts in his Triple-A debut back on September 6.
With a two game defecit in the loss column and 11 games remaining, the schedule sets up nicely for the Mets. They have five games remaining in their series on the road against the Saint Paul Saints, who have now lost four of their last five games.
After their trip to the Midwest, Syracuse returns home for their final six games, a set with the eighth-place Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, who are in the midst of a free-fall to end their season. They’ve lost eight of their last 10, and the Mets took four of six games from them the last week of August.
Possibly the biggest difference maker in the Mets’ playoff chances could be a promotion of slugging third baseman Jefferson Rojas, who has been incredibly impressive with Binghamton. The Mets’ top prospect has been on a different planet of late in the Eastern League, with a .932 OPS and nine homers in 27 games. He’s posted a .935 OPS this month with a pair of long balls, and could bring another element to an already stacked Syracuse lineup.
