NEW YORK -- The Mets' pitching depth has proven to be one of the team's greatest strengths early this season. But as they continue to weather injuries -- Kodai Senga's the latest -- they also have a trio of talented pitching prospects waiting in the wings.
So is there a chance Brandon Sproat, Jonah Tong or Nolan McLean could crack the big league pitching staff at some point in 2025?
"I think we are going to make those types of decisions based exclusively on who, and what grouping of players, gives us the best chance to win," president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday, after New York placed Senga on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. "And so if we have a prospect that gets to the point that we believe he gives us the best chance to win over someone else, we are going to strongly consider that."
Tong, the Mets' No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, and McLean, their No. 6 prospect, are certainly making their best case.
Tong has been sensational at Double-A Binghamton, where the 21-year-old has a 1.99 ERA in 11 starts and an incredible 91 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old McLean has been nearly as dominant, with a 1.98 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A Syracuse and 62 K's in 59 innings.
But that Mets pitching depth at the Major League level will make it an uphill battle even for the organization's most electric young prospects. With New York leading the National League East, the Mets will want to lean on their proven pitchers in a playoff race.
"With that said, I think the volume of established Major League pitchers we have makes that a steeper hill to climb for a prospect at this point," Stearns continued. "We have pitchers at the Major League level who we really believe in, who have proven that they can pitch at a high level. And so for a prospect to jump that, especially in a pennant race, is a high bar. Not an impossible bar -- but it's a high bar."
Still, Stearns said he was impressed with how the Mets' top pitching prospects have performed this year.
Even Sproat, New York's No. 2 prospect who got off to a rocky start at Triple-A, has looked more like himself recently. The 24-year-old had a 6.69 ERA through his first nine games, but he has a 2.95 ERA over his last four outings.
"I think he's getting back to a couple of different things that he did very well in Double-A [last season]," Stearns said. "The first is he's attacking, and the second is he's using the entirety of his arsenal pretty well.
"We saw the curveball come out a little bit more last night, which we think is a good pitch for him, important, at the appropriate times. He's leaning on the changeup when that is the needed pitch. He's not just trying to blow fastballs by guys. This is a talented pitcher with multiple weapons. And sometimes, you need to learn again and again that you need to lean on your entire arsenal."