The New York Mets have already seen success with one top prospect joining the pitching staff midseason. Are more on the way?
Nolan McLean, the Mets’ 2023 third-round pick, is now 2-0 in his first two major league starts, stabilizing the rotation at a time when injuries and inconsistency were decimating the team’s playoff odds.
But to most, McLean was at best the No. 3 pitching prospect in the system at the time of his call-up. And the other two, righties Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat, are now excelling at Triple-A just as the roster is about to expand.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JULY 12: Jonah Tong #16 of the New York Mets pitches in the second inning during the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park on July 12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo…
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JULY 12: Jonah Tong #16 of the New York Mets pitches in the second inning during the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park on July 12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
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So will the Mets expand on their strategy with McLean and make the even bolder move to call up Sproat, Tong, or both?
President of baseball operations David Stearns left the door open to do just that during his comments that came out on Tuesday.
“I’m not gonna rule anything out,” Stearns told insiders Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman on the New York Post’s “The Show” podcast. “We haven’t made any firm decisions yet of what our rotation looks like going forward, what starting pitchers could be involved in that, what pitchers could go to the bullpen.
“We’re gonna take this turn by turn. We do have guys with track records in our rotation and I do think that is important for us to know. But we need to do it, and certainly over the last month we haven’t gotten the consistent quantity out of our starters that we would like.”
When specifically asked if Sproat and/or Tong would be considered as options out of the bullpen, Stearns also didn’t rule out the possibility.
“Once you get into these last days of the year and certainly into the playoffs, how to structure a staff, yeah, the priority is who are our 14 best pitchers? And how do we structure a major-league pitching staff that allows us to get outs at all parts of the game? ” Stearns said.
“And so, at previous points in my career, we have used top starter prospects out of the pen and it’s at times worked pretty well. Not necessarily committing to doing that here, but we’d be foolish not to consider it.”
Sproat, 24, has the higher draft pedigree and has spent the entire year at Triple-A, while Tong, 22, just earned his promotion there thanks to his 1.43 ERA on the season.
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