More rain delays and postponements, but good performances from top prospects Nolan McLean and Carson Benge highlighted Thursday night in the Mets’ minor leagues.

Triple-A
Rochester Red Wings (14-32) 6, Syracuse Mets (21-27) 4
BOX SCORE

CF Drew Gilbert  1-for-4, BB, .717 OPS
RF Gilberto Celestino 1-for-4, HR (4), BB, .813 OPS
DH Jon Singleton 1-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI, BB, .813 OPS
2B Luke Ritter 2-for-3, BB, .612 OPS

Most fans noticed on Thursday night that Ronny Mauricio was not in the Triple-A lineup after homering in back-to-back games. It is important to note that the Mets optioned Mauricio on May 17, meaning they have to wait until May 27 to call him up unless a player is placed on the injured list. In that case, they could call him up on Friday. Also, the Syracuse Mets posted a picture of Mauricio in the dugout during the game.

Gilbert extended his on-base streak to 26 games; he has 20 walks during that span.

Nolan McLean. Photo Credit: Kylie Richelle

RHP Nolan McLean 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, 93 pitches/60 strikes

McLean has now made three starts in Triple-A, with two good ones (7 IP, 0 ER & 6 IP, 0 ER) and one stinker (5 IP, 4 ER). McLean had 15 whiffs in the outing, with eight of them coming on his sweeper. He threw his sweeper 40% of the time on Thursday night with the average exit velocity against the pitch at only 81.7 mph. One of those sweeps had a spin rate of over 3,000 rpms and plenty more around 2850-2950.

Righties Ty Adcock, Grant Hartwig and Chris Devenski each threw a scoreless inning of relief. Lefty Felipe De La Cruz didn’t have the same success; he gave up four runs without recording an out, and his average fastball velocity was down.

 

Double-A
Binghamton Rumble Ponies (23-16) 2 vs. Richmond Flying Squirrels (12-28) 2, SUSPENDED TOP 6

The Binghamton/Richmond game was suspended at the top of the sixth inning on Wednesday with a score of 2-2, and more rain moved Thursday’s originally scheduled game to Sunday. The contest will be resumed on Friday at 5 p.m., and the scheduled game will follow shortly after. Luis Moreno was pitching and Rochester was up to bat when the game was suspended.

High-A
Brooklyn Cyclones (27-13) 4 vs. Winston-Salem Dash (15-24) 1
BOX SCORE

CF A.J. Ewing 0-for-3, BB, R, SB (15), .925 OPS
RF Carson Benge 2-for-3, BB, 2B, 3B, .972 OPS
DH Jacob Reimer 0-for-3, RBI, SB, 1.058 OPS
SS Marco Vargas 1-for-2, 2 BB, R, .600 OPS
C Ronald Hernandez 2-for-4, HR (3), 2B, 2 RBI, .756 OPS

Reimer didn’t have a hit in the game but picked up his league-leading 32nd RBI of the season. Benge, the Mets’ first-rounder from last year, has a 1.120 OPS in May with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12). Ewing picked up his 29th overall stolen base of the year, tying him for third in all of Minor League Baseball.

RHP R.J. Gordon 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 2.48 ERA
RHP Jace Beck 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Win, 5.06 ERA
RHP Ben Simon 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 5.60 ERA
RHP Saul Garcia 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save, 0.84 ERA

The 23-year-old Gordon hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his eight starts to begin the 2025 season. Make sure to check out the recent interview he did with Mets Minors.

Low-A
Jupiter Hammerheads (19-23) 2, St. Lucie Mets (22-20) 0
BOX SCORE

The St. Lucie Mets had just three singles in the game. One by Snyder, Yonatan Henriquez and Vincent Perozo. Henriquez (9) and Snyder (15) each stole a base.

RHP Frank Elissalt 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2.60 ERA
LHP Franklin Gomez 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 3.86 ERA
RHP Cristofer Gomez 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Three innings is a career-high for Elissalt, and he produced 11 whiffs in that short period. Five of them came on his high-spin sinker (up to 96 mph) and three on his sweeper. Gomez used only a two-pitch mix with his four-seamer and slider to get seven overall whiffs on 14 pitches.