CINCINNATI — When Brandon Sproat arrived at Great American Ballpark on Saturday afternoon, it felt like his first day at a new school. Luckily, Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong were in his new class.
The Mets will graduate another pitcher to the big leagues Sunday afternoon when Sproat, the club’s fifth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, makes his big league debut against the Cincinnati Reds, joining fellow rookies McLean and Tong in the rotation.
“It’s the future,” Sproat’s former Triple-A Syracuse teammate Ronny Mauricio told the Daily News on Saturday. “We’re the future.”
The future could be here for the Mets rotation, but there are no guarantees. So far, McLean has handled pitching in a playoff race like a seasoned veteran, going 4-0 in his first four Major League starts. Tong’s debut resulted in a win, but the 22-year-old had some trouble with long innings in an offensive slugfest. President of baseball operations David Stearns reiterated that the club is taking things series by series when it comes to starting pitching.
Still, it’s tough not to get excited about three starting studs all pitching in meaningful games.
“I know what we’re fighting for,” Sproat said. “I know it’s a big push right now, but, I mean, that’s baseball. Whether it’s the start of the season or the middle of season, it’s, how many games can we keep winning? Can we keep the streak going?”
Sproat, who will be 25 later this month, was considered to be further ahead of McLean and Tong in his development when the season started. The Mets have been intrigued by Sproat for years, having drafted him twice, once in 2022 and again in 2023 out of the University of Florida. A solid showing in big league camp left a strong impression on the front office, as well as the Mets’ Major League staff, but ultimately, the club opted to give him another year of development in Triple-A.
Sproat faced adversity in his first full season with Syracuse. The right-hander’s hard fastball was getting hit at a higher level, and he didn’t see results immediately, posting a 5.43 ERA through his first 16 starts. But things turned around for him in July, and his run of dominance began.
“He started off a little rocky, and I think that was a lot to do with this heater,” catcher Hayden Senger recently told the Daily News. “Once he regained his confidence in his heater, it really turned the page for him. He’s attacking the zone with it, and he believes he can get hitters out with it now. I think that’s made a huge difference.”
One simple phrase helped him take that next step in overcoming his early-season growing pains: “Let it eat.”
It’s a phrase he associates with his days playing college ball for the Gators, but it’s not an uncommon phrase to hear in baseball. Bullpen catcher Eric Langill even mentioned it when Sproat was throwing Saturday, which seemed to catch him by surprise, but also assured him that he’s ready for the moment.
“For me, that’s just going out there and throwing your pitch, and throwing as hard as I can,” Sproat said. “It just helps me just kind of flush out the thought of results.”
One the results came, he still saw others getting called up before he did. Blade Tidwell was the first this season, making his debut in May before getting traded to San Francisco before the deadline. Then it was McLean and Tong. Sproat couldn’t get caught up wondering when it was his turn.
“I’m just being where my feet are,” he said.
When he finally received the news from Syracuse manager Dick Scott this week, he let himself feel the emotions of the moment.
“I held it together, told them thank you,” Sproat said. “Then I went and called my dad and my mom and broke down in tears.”
His parents cried as well.
Maybe it all worked out the way it was supposed to. McLean and Tong have been happy to help Sproat since arriving in Cincinnati, and he’s been relieved to have their guidance. Unsure of when to play catch and what to wear while doing so Saturday, he asked McLean and Tong. They also helped him find the weight room. Prospects don’t always know how to dress or how to act when they’re called up to the big leagues for the first time.
The Mets are confident he’ll know what to do once he gets on the mound.
“We’ve really seen now, consistently, over the last 2-2 1/2 months signs of a frontline pitcher,” Stearns said this weekend. “He’s carried his velocity very consistently late into games, I think his secondary offerings have picked up in consistency and crispness, he started throwing the changeup again a little bit more, which has helped him. We’ve seen a number of really positive trends.
“He’s still a young pitcher — this is still his major league debut — but we feel confident that he can compete at this level.”
Competition exists among the team’s youngest players, but it’s friendly. From Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez and Mauricio, to Sproat, Tong and McLean, the Baby Mets are pushing each other to “let it eat.”
