3 NY Mets prospects still in the minors who went beyond the call of duty in 2025

Many of the New York Mets’ top prospects had great years. Jonah Tong, Carson Benge, and Nolan McLean are just three who excelled in 2025. McLean arguably went above and beyond the call of duty, getting to the Major Leagues and making a great first impression. However, the Mets had many more who didn’t just perform well. They also outperformed any expectations that were set upon them at the start of the year, especially these three.

1) Zach Thornton

Zach Thornton was not on any top 30 Mets prospect lists heading into the year. While he didn’t perform poorly in 2024, he also didn’t do anything to stand out either. He clocked in with a 4.10 ERA, 3.88 FIP, with an 18.4% K%, and 6.1% walk rate. He was also used both out of the bullpen and rotation, pitching 68 innings in a dozen starts, and 20 total appearnces. A soft-tossing Southpaw, his ceiling was already set low. But his 2025 performance didn’t just dwarf his 2024 numbers; it also makes him a legit prospect to watch moving forward.

The left-hander tossed 72.2 innings between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton while pitching to the tune of a 1.98 ERA, 2.60 FIP, and 0.81 WHIP. Thornton dramatically improved his K% by nearly 10%, striking out 28.5% of opponents. His already above-average walk rate fell even more to just 4%. Opponents couldn’t get home runs off of him either, with just a 0.62 HR/9 ratio.

Thornton silently had one of the best seasons among all minor league pitchers. Only nine hurlers started at least a dozen games with 60+ IP, and had a sub-2.00 ERA with a K%-BB% over 20%. Among those nine, Thornton’s WHIP is the third lowest, only behind top prospects Kelvis Salcedo from the Detroit Tigers and Chase Burns from the Cincinnati Reds. 

The only real downside to his year was that he missed the second half of the season. He made his last start on June 28, sitting out the rest of the season nursing an oblique injury. But his season put him on both Baseball America’s and MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Mets prospect lists at number 23. He is already 23 years old, so we may see him in the Major Leagues sooner rather than later.