Off-radar NY Mets prospect trails only Juan Soto for the organization's home run lead

While Ryan Clifford delivers power and not much else in Triple-A, another New York Mets prospect is beginning to challenge him as the best slugger in the team’s farm system. After hitting his 16th home run early on Saturday, off-the-radar Mets minor leaguer Nick Lorusso tied Clifford for the organization’s lead on the farm. Only Juan Soto has hit more home runs within the entire organization this season.

There might not be a more New York name than Nick Lorusso. From Carmel, NY, he was a 9th round pick from 2023 who has spent most of his career at third base with time at first base and second base, too.

In his third year in Double-A (limited time in 2024), Lorusso hasn’t quite raised his status to become a significant Mets prospect just yet even if he is having one of the better seasons among position players.

Nick Lorusso is quietly becoming one of the more powerful Mets hitting prospects

It hasn’t been a good year for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies with one of the few bright spots being the performance from Jonathan Santucci. Even as Lorusso hit his sweet 16th homer of the year, the team lost 13-2.

Binghamton won’t defend their 2025 title this season nor do they seem to have all of the best Mets prospects coming through at the right time. Jacob Reimer is having a down year, Chris Suero has hit a wall, and Eli Serrano is doing his best to fall off of everyone’s top 30 Mets prospect list. All three of those guys came into the year with much more hype than Lorusso. And yet it’s him who has put together one of the better campaigns, now owning a very respectable .802 OPS with a .240 batting average.

Already more than doubling last year’s 7 home runs and rising way over the .680 OPS he posted, Lorusso is a 2026 consideration for some time in Triple-A. Unfortunately, he does turn 26 in September and is way out of the conversation in terms of future big league contributors. Even Carlos Cortes, Jeremiah Jackson, and a few others who’ve passed by were at one point considered top 30 prospects. Not Lorusso just yet.

An organization’s minor league home run title might not be endgame for Lorruso, but it’s worth bragging about to some extent and a good way to catch attention. Considering the openness at first base and third base and unsatisfactory performance of Marcus Semien at second base, there’s always space for another Mets infielder to grab some playing time in the majors. With any prospect who has some skill, it’s important to never say never.

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