NY Mets prospect duo added via trade are struggling through first 24 AFL at-bats

The Arizona Fall League started this week and a pair of New York Mets prospects haven’t exactly gotten off to roaring starts.

Acquired in separate trades several weeks apart, Cole Mathis from the David Peterson swap with the Chicago Cubs and Bruin Agbayani who came courtesy of the Minnesota Twins in exchange for A.J. Minter, are teammates on the Surprise Saguaros. Apparently, the city got its name because the founder would have been “surprised” if the town ever amounted to much.

We wouldn’t be so shocked to see Mathis or Agbayani rise up the Mets prospect rankings. Both within the top 30, their presence suggests scouts believe in them enough to become more than minor league filler. Unfortunately, it has been a snail’s crawl for both. They’re a combined 2 for 24.

Mets prospect Cole Mathis and Bruin Agbayani aren’t making up for lost regular season time

Mathis is 1 for 11 with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts. The plate discipline is the silver lining thus far. Mathis played only 13 regular season games with the Mets, logging 52 total when including his time in the Cubs’ minor league system. While he hit .238/.370/.487 overall, the bulk of the success came in A-Ball with the Cubs. He didn’t do much of anything at any of his stops for the Mets while coming back from a wrist injury.

Agbayani, meanwhile, is 1 for 13 with 1 walk and 6 punchouts. He played 13 total games with both organizations and has now logged just 18 since getting drafted by the Twins in 2025. There’s such a puny sample size of his that dissecting any of the results is guessing. Only 19 with a handful of professional at-bats, we’re relying on prospect rankings to know whether or not he’s more than the son of an ex-big leaguer.

Fellow Mets prospect Boston Baro hasn’t been much better at only 1 for 8. Unranked at the moment, he’s another guy who missed significant time trying to get some extra reps in during the AFL.

On the pitching side of things, it’s far too early to tell with Irving Cota leading the roster with 4.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 2 runs on only 1 hit in what is a promising beginning to his trip through fall ball.

The circumstances surrounding the AFL are unique because it generally includes guys near MLB-ready as well as ones several years away. Agbayani in comparison to someone like Ryan Lambert is drastic.

We should think of the AFL as a chance to think in extremes while allowing guys who missed time to get those innings logged. If a player like Abgayani was to dominate in the AFL, it’s a major reward. Players like Lambert, already with a Triple-A season under their belt, having a bad performance tells teams that maybe they need more time.

So far Mathis and Agbayani, they’re kind of doing what we should expect. It’s a short sample of only a month’s worth of games. Slumps, even for a week, can drastically swing those overall numbers. The same goes for a hot streak. Nick Morabito hit .362 in the 2025 AFL. A positive note on his resume, it’s clear his offensive game needs work.

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