A New York Mets Star Prospect Makes History

Brandon Sproat was at it again last night, making the best start of his professional career.

It was men against boys when Sproat took the mound yesterday. The hard throwing right hander was completely dominating, striking out a career high 13 batters.

Sproat threw five innings. He only allowed two hits. The 13 strikeouts came on only 81 pitches. A lot of that was due to him not allowing any walks. The strikeout numbers stand out, but a lot of people in the Mets organization will be more interested in the 0 walks allowed.

Sproat struggled with control earlier in the year, but he appears to have turned a corner.

The prospect made history last night. He struck out 11 consecutive batters to end his outing. Sproat was totally on cruise control. He mainly attacked with his fastball, but he complemented it very well with his slider and changeup.

Sproat has been one of the highest flyers on prospect charts this year. Fangraphs now has him as the #22 overall prospect and the fifth best pitcher.

It is obvious that Sproat is too good for Double A. The Mets organization is well aware of this.

A major league call up is not out of the question for Sproat. David Stearns has done something similar in the past. In 2018, the Brewers called up their top pitching prospect for the stretch run. Corbin Burnes came up and excelled out of the bullpen. He, of course, went on to be their ace and win the Cy Young.

The Mets have been limiting Sproat’s innings. Sproat is on pace to pitch a similar number of innings as he did last season prior to the College World Series. Sproat threw thirty extra innings and excelled during the Florida Gators’ playoff run.

Sproat’s pitch count has been capped recently too. Sproat has thrown 69, 86 and 81 pitches in his last three starts. He averaged 86 pitches in his ten starts before that run.

It is very possible that the Mets are limiting Sproat’s innings for a late year call up. If the Mets call him up, it will most likely be in a couple weeks so Sproat can still be eligible for various incentives in 2025.

New York may have had Sproat in mind when they were frugal at the deadline. Bringing Sproat up would be a real boost to the team. There is no reason to think his stuff wouldn’t continue to play in the majors.