Four valuedThe major leagues are getting closer to Mets prospects.
On Monday, Ryan Clifford, Jonah Tong, Carson Benge, and Jett Williams were all promoted to Triple-A Syracuse.MLB Pipeline lists him as one of the top seven prospects for the Mets.
Williams, a center fielder and middle infielder, is regarded as the top prospect by the Mets. The twenty-one-year-old hit.In 96 games with Double-A Binghamton this season, he has scored 281 with 10 home runs, an OPS of.867, and 32 stolen bases.
In 2022, the Mets selected the right-handed Williams in the first round.
The 22-year-old Tong is the Mets’ top pitching prospect and their second overall. The right-hander pitched 102 innings over 20 starts at Double-A, going 8-5 with a 1.59 ERA and 162 strikeouts.
After being promoted in June, Benge, a left-hitting outfielder and the Mets’ fourth-ranked prospect, batted.317 with eight home runs and an OPS of.978 in 32 games at Double-A.
Last year, the Mets selected the fast-rising 22-year-old in the first round.
And in 105 games at Double-A, Clifford, a left-handed first baseman and outfielder, hit.243 with 24 home runs and an OPS of.848. In the 2023 transaction that sent Justin Verlander to Houston, Clifford was acquired by the Mets.
Specifically, Tong has created a great deal of buzz. Against Somerset, the Yankees Double-A affiliate, on Sunday, the 2022 seventh-round pick threw five innings of one-run ball and leads the minor leagues in strikeouts.
With his deceptive over-the-top delivery and good extension, Tong, who stands 6′ 1″, could be the next Tim Lincecum, according to MLB Pipeline’s scouting report. His fastball plays far above that with elite-induced vertical break, but it only exhibits average velocity in the 91–94 mph range.
Both Benge and Tong participated in last month’s All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta.
With the recently called-up trio joining right-handed starters Nolan McLean (No. 3) and Brandon Sproat (No. 5), six of the Mets’ top seven prospects are now in Triple-A.
Sproat pitched to a 4.10 ERA in 22 starts during his whole season in Triple-A.
In May, McLean was promoted to Triple-A, where he has made 16 appearances, 13 of which have been starts, and recorded a 2.78 ERA.
As the MLB staff has battled to give the club length in recent months, Mets fans have grown more and more impatient for Sproat and McLean, both 24 years old, to make the transition to the major leagues. The Mets (63-55) lost Sunday for the seventh time in a row and the eleventh time in their past 12 games.
But last week, president of baseball operations David Stearnsexplainedwhy Sproat and McLean had not been called up.
According to Stearns, it always comes down to a combination of when those players are developmentally ready, when there is a need, and how to fit it on the roster.
Though we’re not quite there yet, we might eventually come to the conclusion that bringing one or both of them here is the wisest course of action.
On Tuesday night, Triple-A Syracuse kicks off a six-game homestand against Indianapolis, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
