Are New York Mets star pitching prospects Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean about to make the jump to the big leagues? The team’s President weighs in on how close they are to joining the MLB roster for the stretch run.
New York is in the thick of the National League playoff chase. They currently hold one of the final two Wild Card spots. And sit 2.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first in the NL East. Before last week’s MLB trade deadline, the club made several additions to the pitching staff to strengthen it for the second half. But you can never have enough pitching when trying to reach the World Series.
That is why there have been rumblings that the team’s top two pitchers at Triple-A, Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean, could be promoted very soon. But in the end, only one person has the final say on when that move finally happens. And that is team president David Stearns.
He offered up some new thoughts on the two pitchers, as well as the team’s best pitching prospect Jonah Tong, during a new interview this week with the Mets’ YouTube channel.
“There’s always additional risk when you’re asking someone to do something at the big league level that they haven’t done before,” Stearns began by saying. “There’s no question about that. But we also don’t want to go out and give up a ton of prospect value and bring in someone for two months. When we feel pretty confident we have someone capable of providing that production currently in our organization.
“In terms of our guys at Triple-A, McLean and Sproat, those guys are throwing the ball really well. And two their credit, they have absolutely put themselves in the conversation. I don’t know when or if it’s gonna happen,” he added. “It has to line up that they are doing their part, but also, we have the need. And it makes sense from a roster perspective. They’ve both pitched extremely well over the last month. It made our jobs a lot easier at the deadline.”
As for Tong, the team’s No. 2 prospect on MLB.com, Stearns believes there is little doubt his dominant showing in Double-A this year will lead to a Triple-A promotion before the season comes to a close.
“I think Jonah has done a tremendous job. He’s been, probably, the most dominant pitcher in the minor leagues this year,” said Stearns. “And when you have a pitcher who’s been as dominant as Jonah has been at a single level, you take a real hard look at when it’s time to get him to the next level.
“I think we are in the process of taking that real hard look. And I think before the season’s out, he’s going to show what he can do at the next level.”
