The New York Mets enter the 2025 season focused on being contenders after a busy offseason that saw them land Juan Soto and re-sign Pete Alonso and Sean Manaea. While the primary focus is on the upcoming season, one of the Mets top prospects in 2025 will have something to prove.
Heading into spring training, New York’s farm system is in a relatively good place. It ranked 12th in Baseball America’s MLB farm system rankings and ESPN placed New York ninth in MLB thanks to a deep pool of Mets top prospects. While there’s plenty of depth to the class, top-end talent leaves a bit to be desired on the pitching side.
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- Brandon Sproat stats: 3.56 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 6.7 H/9, 10.1 K/9 across 116.1 innings pitched
Brandon Sproat, the consensus top prospect in New York’s farm system, was a second-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He worked his way p from High-A (1.42 ERA in 25.1 innings) to Double-A (2.45 ERA in 62.1 innings) this past year, ending the season at the Triple-A level with a 7.85 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 28.2 innings.
The season significantly improved Sproat’s standing among the top MLB prospects and accelerated his timeline toward his major league debut. While he could be part of the Mets rotation in 2025, fans might want to temper their expectations for his big-league career.
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Entering the 2025 season, Sproat landed 46th among Baseball Pipeline’s top 100 MLB prospects. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel was slightly lower on the right-handed pitcher, ranking him 62nd in his top 100 prospects list. While Sproat is viewed as a consensus top-100 prospect, his upside isn’t all that appealing.
As of now, McDaniel thinks that the 24-year-old righty could potentially become a No. 3 starter with a more realistic outcome as a fourth starter in the Mets rotation.
“Sproat’s improvement continued in 2024 as he went from High-A to Triple-A, showing similarly good stuff that he showed as a starter in college: sitting in the mid-90s with sink/run, complemented by a slider, curveball and changeup that are all above average at times. He still needs one more tick of command development but now looks to be on the verge of becoming a third or fourth starter.”
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel on New York Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat
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The sentiment on Sproat’s ceiling also seems to be shared by Keith Law of The Athletic. Analyzing the Mets top prospects in 2025, Law had Sproat at No. 1 in New York’s farm system. However, he also sees a potential No. 4 starter with some similarities to Edwin Jackson.
“He has some similarities to Edwin Jackson, a huge stuff guy who was more of a No. 4 starter for most of his career, although I think Sproat has better control than Jackson did at the same age.”
Keith Law of the Athletic on New York Mets top prospect Brandon Sproat
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Jackson enjoyed a 17-year career in the majors, recording a 107-133 record in 1,960 innings pitched. However, he also finished his big-league career with a career 1.47 WHIP and 4.78 ERA, spending the majority of his time in the majors as a back-end starter.
A version of Jackson with better command could certainly fare better statistically, especially given the Mets’ track record with starting pitchers. However, the evaluations do signal that Sproat could become a trade chip down the line for New York if packaging him with other prospects can help add a piece that can contribute significantly in 2025.
