B/T: R/R Age: 21 (08/10/2004)
Ht: 5’10″ Wt: 150 lb
ETA: 2027
Acquired: 2023 Amateur Draft, Round 4 Selection (Springboro High)
2025 Stats: .315/.401/.429 (564 PA)
Over the last half-decade, at least one Mets prospect has emerged from relative obscurity to solidify himself as an everyday option on the cusp of the Majors.
In 2025, A.J. Ewing was that guy.
Four rounds into the 2023 MLB Draft, New York plucked Ewing from his commitment at the University of Alabama, inking the Ohioan high schooler to a signing bonus worth 675,000 dollars, a sum usually ticketed for second round selections. Ewing had big shoes to fill; Jacob deGrom‘s rejection of the Mets’ qualifying offer the previous offseason led to New York’s acquisition of the compensatory selection they used to select Ewing. Two years in, it’s clear Ewing has warranted the investment.
In just his first professional campaign of full-season ball, the 20-year-old Ewing jumped three levels, ending his year in the starting lineup for the championship-winning Binghamton Rumble Ponies. On the field, he slashed .315/.401/.429, popping three homers, stealing 70 bases, and displaying defensive excellence across multiple up-the-middle positions.
In early 2025, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relayed the following quote from Andrew Christie about Ewing, the Mets’ Director of Player Development.
It just took him a little bit to get acclimated to pro ball,” Christie said. “But man, he hits it hard. He can run. He steals bases. He’s playing some second and some center. He’s got a really good idea of the strike zone. There’s a lot of things.”
His production has been strong enough to warrant attention from not only internal decision-makers but also from top prospect analysts on the public side. ESPN and Baseball Prospectus are rather bullish on the 20-year-old, placing him among the top 30 prospects in the sport.
Meanwhile, MLB.com, The Athletic, and Baseball America each nominated him to the latter half of their respective top-100 prospect lists. Baseball America piled on the accolades, naming him the best hitter in the Mets system on the strength of his plate discipline.
The hype is well-warranted. Since making the jump to full-season ball, Ewing skyrocketed up the Mets’ minor league system at a virtually unprecedented pace, concluding the season as the youngest player on Binghamton’s roster.
Ewing presently profiles as a typical lead-off hitter, but, though at his youthful age, he certainly has room to grow.
He made substantial changes to his offensive profile in 2025, knocking 12 percentage points off his strikeout rate and adding 26 points to his wOBA.
Several of his underlying metrics portend further promise. As shared by MLB.com, Ewing finished with an 88% in-zone contact rate in his time with the Cyclones and Ponies. That, combined with his 9% swinging strike rate, helped him get on base at 40% clip. Once he reached base, Ewing ran free, racking up an organizational-leading 70 steals in 2025.
Delving deeper, there are some yellow warning signs, most notably surrounding his power and BABIP. He only tallied three round-trippers in 2025, but his 111 Max EV, as relayed by Baseball America, portends potential improvement in his over-the-fence pop.
Further, Ewing posted a .392 batting average on balls in play [BABIP], a mark that may garner a raised eyebrow from those familiar with the law of averages. Although his speed lends credence to the metric’s sustainability, a repeat of a near-.400 BABIP is near impossible. With that said, his entire offensive profile should be analyzed amidst the backdrop that Ewing was, on average, holding his own against pitchers 3.5 years his elder in just his second year in affiliated ball.
On defense, there are no such qualms. In 2026, Ewing shifted his up-the-middle home, transitioning from shortstop to center field. The outfield is Ewing’s future home, where he can best utilize his 70-grade speed to chase gappers.
He’s participated in Major League Spring Training for the Mets in 2026; so far, he’s racked up a 1.088 OPS across 16 at-bats. After Ewing drove in the Mets’ only run in their spring-training opener, Carlos Mendoza said the following about the youngster:
“There’s a lot to like. He looks like a hitter at the plate and then the defense. Made a couple of good plays, great jumps. I think there’s a lot to like there. The reads off the bat, but just his ability to give you a really good at-bat from the left side. The speed obviously is there. I’ve been pretty encouraged about the way he’s looked so far, and today was a perfect example of that.”
Fewer prospects experienced a greater rise in prospect stardom in 2025 than A.J. Ewing. In just his age-21 season, he’s likely to start the year with the Rumble Ponies.
His 2026 campaign will serve as a harbinger to see if he’s ready for a full-time role with the Major League club as soon as Opening Day 2027.
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