Four prized Mets prospects are getting closer to the majors.
Jett Williams, Jonah Tong, Carson Benge and Ryan Clifford were all promoted to Triple-A Syracuse on Monday. MLB Pipeline ranks each within the Mets’ top seven prospects.
Williams, a middle infielder and center fielder, is considered the Mets’ No. 1 prospect. The 21-year-old hit .281 with 10 home runs, an .867 OPS and 32 stolen bases in 96 games with Double-A Binghamton this year.
The righty-swinging Williams was the Mets’ first-round pick in 2022.
Tong, 22, is the Mets’ top pitching prospect and their No. 2 prospect overall. The right-hander went 8-5 with a 1.59 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 102 innings over 20 starts at Double-A.
Benge, a lefty-hitting outfielder and the Mets’ No. 4 prospect, batted .317 with eight homers and an .978 OPS in 32 games with Double-A after being promoted in June.
The fast-rising 22-year-old was the Mets’ first-round pick last year.
And Clifford, a lefty-swinging outfielder and first baseman, hit .243 with 24 homers and an .848 OPS in 105 games at Double-A. The Mets acquired Clifford in the 2023 trade that sent Justin Verlander to Houston.
Tong, in particular, has generated considerable excitement. The 2022 seventh-round pick leads the minors in strikeouts and hurled five innings of one-run ball on Sunday against Somerset, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate.
“Standing at 6-foot-1, Tong can look like the second coming of Tim Lincecum with his deceptive over-the-top delivery and good extension,” reads MLB Pipeline’s scouting report of Tong. “His fastball only shows average velocity in the 91-94 mph range, but it plays well above that with elite induced vertical break.”
Tong and Benge both took part in the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta last month.
Six of the Mets’ top seven prospects are now at Triple-A, with the newly called-up quartet joining right-handed starters Nolan McLean (No. 3) and Brandon Sproat (No. 5).
Sproat has spent all season at Triple-A, pitching to a 4.10 ERA in 22 starts.
McLean, meanwhile, was promoted to Triple-A in May and boasts a 2.78 ERA in 16 appearances, including 13 starts, at that level.
Mets fans have become increasingly eager for Sproat and McLean, both of whom are 24, to come up to the majors, especially as the MLB staff has struggled to give the team length in recent months. On Sunday, the Mets (63-55) suffered their seventh loss in a row and their 11th in their last 12 games.
But last week, president of baseball operations David Stearns explained why Sproat and McLean had not been called up.
“It’s always a combination of when, developmentally, those guys are ready, and also when there’s the need and how to fit it on the roster,” Stearns said.
“We may get to the point where we decide that it’s the best thing to do to bring one or both of them here, but we’re not at that point quite yet.”
Triple-A Syracuse begins a six-game homestand against Indianapolis, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, on Tuesday night.
