3 NY Mets backup plans if Clay Holmes fails as a starting pitcher

2) Brandon Sproat

The Mets drafted Brandon Sproat twice. The first time was in the 2022 draft when they took him in the third round out of the University of Florida. The two sides could not converge on a deal, so the Mets took him again, this time in the second round as a senior pick. Sproat did not make his pro debut until this past season. However, he couldn’t have asked for a much more promising season to start his career with.

Sproat pitched a total of 116.1 innings across three levels of the Minor Leagues. The talented right-hander ended the year with a 3.40 ERA, 3.94 FIP, and 1.11 WHIP. Sproat struck out well over a quarter of opponents with a 28.3% K%. He paired that with a respectable 1.08 HR/9 rate, along with a 9.3% walk rate.

Sproat has a wide variety of pitches at his disposal. His four-seamer sits in the mid-to-upper-90s with great movement. MLB Pipeline has it as a 65-grade pitch. His next best offering is his upper-80s change-up, which Baseball America has as a plus offering. Sproat mixes in three breaking pitches. Both his slider and cutter are considered above-average offerings, while his curveball is the worst pitch among his repertoire, but could still be a usable offering. He has also shown better control.

By the end of the year, Sproat became a consensus top 100 prospect. FanGraphs is exceptionally bullish on Sproat, ranking him as the 17th-best prospect in baseball, while MLB Pipeline places him as the 40th best, and Baseball America ranks him as the 61st-best. While Sproat struggled at Triple-A, it was a small sample size of just 28.2 innings pitched. Sproat will be in his age-24 season next year, so an early season promotion isn’t out of the question for him if Holmes struggles or if there is an injury.