Rising New York Mets Prospect Earns Publication’s Midseason Award

The New York Mets’ MLB Futures Game representative starts the second half of the season with a new honor.

Jun 24, 2023; Omaha, NE, USA; Florida Gators pitcher Brandon Sproat (8) throws against the LSU Tigers in the first inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a good week for New York Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat.

The Pensacola, Fla., right-hander got a break from the final couple of days of the first half of the minor league season for a good reason — he represented the Mets at the MLB Futures Game during All-Star weekend at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Now, as the second half begins, he has a new honor from Baseball America. The publication named the top midseason minor league performer for each organization and the Florida product got the nod for the Mets.

Sproat is back with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, but in his first professional season he is now a Top 50 prospect according to Baseball America and it is easy to see why he made the midseason award list.

New York actually started him at its High-A affiliate in Brooklyn to begin the season and he earned a promotion to Binghamton on May 13.

He’s been excellent at both stops, with a combined 6-1 record in 14 games (13 starts), with a 1.71 ERA. Batters were hitting only .168 against him.

Baseball America wrote that “Sproat is one of the hardest-throwing starting pitchers in the minor leagues, and batters have struggled to solve him.”

He had 85 strikeouts against 28 walks in 73.2 innings this season.

While with the NL Futures team in Arlington, the 23-year-old entered the game in relief in the third inning, as he worked around an infield error to induce a pop-out and then a 6-4-3 double play that ended that inning.

The NL ended up winning the game.

Sproat didn’t pitch professionally last year as he helped the Florida Gators reach the College World Series championship series against the LSU Tigers. So the Mets gave his arm a rest.

The Mets also believed in him so much they drafted him twice. New York made Sproat their second-round pick in 2023. But, in 2022, the Mets took a pass at him in the third round before he chose to use his remaining eligibility and return to the Gators.

That 2022 season put him on the map with plenty of scouts, as he threw 106.1 innings, went 9-4 and had a 3.14 ERA. He struck out 134 and earned Second-Team All-SEC honors.

The Mets have also had good luck drafting Florida players of late. One of their current starters, Christian Scott, was one of Sproat’s teammates before the Mets made him their fifth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. Scott made his MLB debut earlier this year.

Sproat may not have to wait quite as long as Scott at this rate.