Suddenly, the Mets’ top young talent is all just a phone call away from the big leagues.
The club on Sunday evening promoted four of its top seven prospects – including its top two, and three of its top four – together to Triple-A Syracuse, creating a cluster of the organization’s best young players at its highest Minor League level. Headed to Triple-A are infielder/outfielder Jett Williams (NYM No. 1/MLB No. 37), right-hander Jonah Tong (NYM No. 2/MLB No. 51), outfielder Carson Benge (NYM No. 4/MLB No. 67) and first baseman/outfielder Ryan Clifford (NYM No. 7) in moves that consolidate six of New York’s top seven prospects at Triple-A.
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Those players join right-handers Nolan McLean (NYM No. 3/MLB No. 63) and Brandon Sproat (NYM No. 5) on one of Triple-A’s most talented rosters, while positioning each of them to potentially factor into New York’s plans at the big league level down the stretch.
The headliner is probably Tong, the Minor League's strikeout leader. The promotions came on the heels of another strong start by the electrifying righty, who logged 10 innings of one-run ball across two starts over the past week. He struck out 16 and walked only two in those outings, typical for the 22-year-old who's running a 162-44 SO/BB and 1.59 ERA across 102 innings (20 starts) so far this season.
But the other players are heading north with Tong because they've enjoyed plenty of success this season, too.
The club's first-round pick in 2024, Benge arrived at Double-A Binghamton only on June 24 and tore it up, hitting .317/.407/.571 with eight homers in 32 games. The 22-year-old outfielder is batting .308/.413/.513 with 12 homers, 60 RBIs and 19 steals overall across three levels in his first full pro season.
Williams has been steadily productive since becoming the Mets' first-round pick from 2022, and paired 10 homers with 32 steals in 96 games at Binghamton this season, along with a .390 on-base-percentage. The 21-year-old saw time defensively at three positions: shortstop, second base and center field.
Clifford was an 11th-round pick of the Astros in 2022 and one of the two prospects New York acquired in the Justin Verlander trade at the 2023 Deadline. He hit .243/.355/.493 with an Eastern League-leading 24 home runs in his second go at Binghamton, where he'd spent the entire season before Sunday's promotion.
The Syracuse Mets have a 60-54 overall record in 2025, including a 29-10 record in the second half of the season which is good for first place in the International League second-half standings.