NY Mets prospect drafted in the 13th round blew away all expectations in 2025

New York Mets fans love a later round draft pick who makes it to the majors. The appeal of an underdog excelling in the show is one of the reasons that made Jacob deGrom even more enthralling. We gave Tylor Megill the benefit of the doubt for rising up so quickly. Jonah Tong, as a 7th rank pick, fits this model, too.

Even deeper, in the 13th round in 2024, the Mets took R.J. Gordon out of the University of Oregon. Give credit to the Mets scouting department who did more than look at his college results. A 5.22 ERA in college with less than 8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9, Gordon blew away expectations this past season.

R.J. Gordon has pitched his way into becoming a significant Mets prospect

Gordon split his season pretty evenly between Brooklyn and Binghamton. After 67.2 innings in the former, with a 3.06 ERA and 10.1 K/9, it was time to see what he could do against tougher competition. Would he get knocked down? Not really.

61 more innings in Double-A, the ERA creeped up to only 3.69. He had an incredible 2.2 BB/9 rate while increasing his strikeouts to 10.5 K/9. Everything but the earned run average seemed to improve.

His final 3 starts of the year had a lot to do with it. He gave up 14 earned runs in his final 13.2 innings. Perhaps a little burnout was to blame.

Nevertheless, Gordon provided the Mets with hope of finding another steal in a later round of the draft. The farm system is loaded with pitchers with several debuting last year and more approaching a big league appearance in 2026. Gordon may be in the wave that has to wait until 2027, unless the Mets decide they can find use for him as a reliever for some innings.

Pitching above his weight class in the lower minor leagues is one thing. Getting through a full year in Double-A, or at least several months, and then not stumbling in Triple-A will be the goal for 2026. Syracuse has claimed the pitching lives of several other Mets prospects in recent years, slowing down a guy like Brandon Sproat and completely ruining the trajectory for Dom Hamel, Mike Vasil, and a few others. Probably a year ahead of schedule because of how well he pitched last season, Gordon will have stiff competition to help differentiate himself from the rest of the Mets system.

The 13th round isn't where a team will typically find too many gems. Two years prior to Gordon, the Mets drafted Dyaln Ross there. Who said it was such an unlucky numbrer anyway?