Will New York Mets Promote No. 1 Prospect to Help Playoff Push?

Find out what New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns had to say about the possibility of the team calling up their No. 1 prospect down the stretch.

Mar 15, 2024; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets pitcher Brandon Sproat (28) warms-up in the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals in the Spring Breakout game at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

It's all hands on deck as the New York Mets attempt to crack a Wild Card spot in the National League with about a month and a half left in the regular season.

Entering play on Saturday, August 17, the Mets sit a game behind the NL East rival Atlanta Braves for the third and final NL Wild Card position.

It's safe to say they will need all of the help they can get and their No. 1 ranked prospect, Brandon Sproat, has been tearing it up on the mound in the minor leagues this year.

So is he a candidate to be called-up in September once rosters expand from 26 to 28 players?

President of baseball operations David Stearns was asked about Sproat's candidacy for a promotion by reporters on Friday prior to the Mets' 7-3 win over the Miami Marlins.

“I don’t think I take anything off the table at this point,” Stearns said. “September call-ups is a little bit of a different animal now than it was a couple of years ago. It’s a two player expansion – one position player and one pitcher – so it’s not quite as robust as it was and really those calls are gonna be made by what the team need is at that particular point in time. 

“Clearly, your roster isn’t frozen in September so it’s highly likely that whoever we call up on September 1st, those positions could rotate as we get through the month of September.”

After getting selected by the Mets out of Florida University at No. 56 overall in the second-round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Sproat has ripped through New York's system in his first year at the professional level. Between High-A, Double-A and now Triple-A Syracuse, the righty has posted a 2.55 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and 116 strikeouts in 95.1 innings (18 starts, 19 appearances).

Sproat was promoted to Triple-A on August 5 and has a 8.22 ERA in two starts for Syracuse. However, his second outing was much better before he was ejected after three innings for arguing with the umpire.

As impressive as Sproat has been in 2024, it sounds like the Mets want to see him develop a bit more before making a decision.

“I think he’s had about as good a minor league season as you can possibly have,” Stearns said. “I think he’s thrown more strikes, he’s rounded out his arsenal, he’s improved his changeup. He’s competed at a very high level very consistently. He’s bounced back from the occasional rough outing, so we’ve been very pleased with his development this year. 

“He just needs experience. This is still a very new player to professional baseball and he has moved very rapidly through our system and he has earned that and he deserves that, but I think we need to make sure that he also dominates at the level he’s at now before we really start talking about what comes next.”

Sproat's potential major league call-up isn't being ruled out this year. That being said, Stearns and the Mets prefer him to gain more experience in Triple-A first.