2025 Draft prospect Agbayani looks to follow in father's big league footsteps

PHOENIX -- If you watched Mets baseball at the turn of the 21st century, you likely remember Benny Agbayani. And while it might be hard to believe that the Subway Series Fall Classic is approaching its quarter century anniversary this autumn, here’s another dose of how quickly the days move: Agbayani’s son, Bruin, is a member of the 2025 Draft class and recently made MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 prospects.

Bruin remembers falling in love with the game at a young age, waving a toy bat around while watching his father play -- Benny last appeared in the big leagues in 2002, then went on to a successful post-MLB career in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines. But more than anything, Bruin hears from Mets fans, who helped make Benny into something of a local folk hero over his four years with the club.

“Oh, it's the greatest feeling,” Agbayani said of when he’s regaled with stories about his dad. “Just hearing they’re Mets fans, that they love my dad and what he did in New York -- just hearing about it, it's fun.”

Bruin, who differs from his father by virtue of batting left-handed, starred during the High School Showcase Game at the Draft Combine, socking a triple at Chase Field. He also swiped a pair of bases during the game, showing off that all-around impact that earned him Hawaii Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year honors.

It’s been something of a banner year for Hawaiian ballplayers. Wehiwa Aloy won the 2025 Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the game’s top amateur ballplayer, for his production over the course of a dominant season with Arkansas. It was just three years ago that Aloy, now MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 Draft prospect, was tearing up the high school circuit along with his brother Kuhio in The Aloha State.

Last year, Hawaii natives Caleb Lomavita, who won Hawaii’s Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in 2020-21, and Kodey Shojinaga attended the Draft Combine before being selected by the Nationals (33rd overall) and Phillies (192nd overall), respectively.

“It means a lot,” Agbayani said of the accolades he’s received. “You're not only representing Hawaii, representing your family, yourself, you just wanna do great for your state even though it’s a small island.

“It's kind of a scrappy [style]. Just scrappy kids, just having fun playing baseball.”

The younger Agbayani has always had fun with baseball, and that started at a young age, when he would be alongside his dad in the batting cage. Sure, he loves to surf, which he cites as a key component to keeping his legs strong, but Bruin grew up getting work in with his swing.

As part of his preparation for the rigors of the pro game, Agbayani enjoyed a spell with the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League earlier this summer. While the overall numbers (6-for-35 in 10 games) weren’t much to write home about, his experience served as a checkpoint for where his game is.

“I had a great time,” Agbayani said. “Playing against college kids, that's what you're gonna matchup against when you're in the big leagues, guys that are 23, 24 years old, so it definitely was a good experience to see how they are -- the pitching and the velocity, their speed, they're stronger. And the guys that I played with, they took care of me; I was the young guy on the team, so they definitely looked out for me there and drove me around and taught me a lot about just how college was and their experiences playing baseball.”

The MLB Draft League set a record in 2024, when 52 of its alumni were selected in the Draft. Managers and coaches boast Major League experience, often giving most players their first direct, hands-on coaching from a former big leaguer. But in Agbayani’s case, he’s had that since he was a youngster, constantly working under Benny's tutelage.

But the elder Agbayani always wanted his son to carve his own path in the game. Bruin, who is committed to play at the University of Michigan if he doesn’t sign out of this year’s Draft, is leaving the island much earlier than his dad, who played collegiately at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu.

“He always asked me why I didn’t name him Benny the Third,” Benny told MLB.com’s Bill Ladson in January 2024. “I said, ‘We named you Bruin because we want you to fulfill your own shoes, succeed in the game and do it on your own terms.’ I will always be there to support him.

“He is better than me. Growing up, he has been around the game. He has a lot of resources. He has a lot of my friends -- people that could guide him, give him advice. That’s the great part of this game.”

And who better to support a baseball-loving 18-year-old than his father, especially one who has 208 home runs and 17 years of professional experience under his belt.

“It's always about baseball,” Bruin said of his relationship with his dad. “Just everything about baseball. He wants the best for me, and he knows I love baseball, too, and I just want to follow in his footsteps and become a big leaguer like him.”