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Don’t sleep on injured NY Mets prospect who turned heads in 2025

This Mets pitching prospect stood out beyond the rest, despite ranking behind the Mets' best minor leaguers.
ByNoah Wright|
Mar 8, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Zach Thornton (80) stretches the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
Mar 8, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Zach Thornton (80) stretches the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The New York Mets have a handful of top pitching prospects. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline have Jonah Tong, Nolan McLean, and Brandon Sproat as three of the organization’s top five prospects. There are also many other noteworthy young hurlers on their top 30 Mets list, but one you won’t find on Pipeline’s list, and is only ranked #30 on BA’s Mets’ list, is left-hander Zach Thornton. Thornton may be slated to miss the entirety of the second half of this season, but don’t sleep on him going into 2026.

Thornton pitched 72 innings prior to his oblique injury, working to an outstanding 1.98 ERA, 2.58 FIP, and microscopic 0.81 WHIP between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. Limiting walks was one of Thornton’s strong suits, with just a 4% BB%. On top of that, he struck out a healthy amount of batters, with a 28.5% strikeout rate. The left-hander only surrendered five home runs as well, leading to a HR/9 of 0.62.

Thornton silently had one of the best seasons among minor league pitchers this season. K%-BB% is an important stat when predicting future success. His 24.4% rate was the 16th best among all minor league hurlers with at least a dozen starts. The only pitchers with a lower WHIP were Travis Sykora of the Washington Nationals and Chase Burns of the Cincinnati Reds, who was also one of the best prospects in all of baseball going into this season. Thornton was one of only 16 pitchers with an ERA under 2.00, and had the 15th-best FIP.

Zach Thornton is pitching better than some of the Mets' best prospects.

The most impressive part of Thornton’s season before landing on the IL was that he was excelling at Double-A. Ten of his 14 starts and 52.2 of his 72 innings pitched came at Binghamton. He had a 2.62 ERA, 2.72 FIP, and 0.87 WHIP. He also struck out 27% of opponents with a 4.6% walk rate. He also threw a seven-inning complete game shutout. The jump between High-A and Double-A is the most significant jump in the minor leagues, aside from Triple-A to the Major Leagues. 

Thornton has consistently shown a good ability to locate in the zone. He had just a 4.8% walk rate in college, and a 6.1% mark in 2024 between St. Lucie and Brooklyn. Now, he is striking out more batters than ever before. In college, he had a 24.3% K%, and a sub-20% last year at 18.1%. Thornton has a wide variety of pitches at his disposal. According to Baseball America, he sits in the low-90s with his four-seam fastball. He’ll also toss a two-seamer, cutter, slider, and curveball.

Thornton’s performance has only gotten better since the Mets drafted him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. He may not have one, overwhelmingly dominant pitch, but he continues to be effective, even after reaching arguably the most challenging level of the minor leagues. The fact that only one of two of the most popular prospect ranking sites has him anywhere in the Mets’ top 30, and even then, places him at number 30, makes him an underrated arm in the farm system. This is someone the Mets should give a shot in the Major Leagues in 2026.

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