3 NY Mets prospects who should be more untouchable than most realize

3) Jack Wenninger

Jack Wenninger has one of the best pitches in the Mets’ system, per Baseball America’s scouting. The right-hander was the Mets’ sixth-round pick in 2023. After having an up-and-down 2024 campaign, where he struggled at St. Lucie but performed well at Brooklyn, all while serving as a swingman, Wenninger spent his entire season at Double-A and had an outstanding breakout season, this time as a full-time starting pitcher.

All 26 of Wenninger’s appearances were as a SP, tossing a total of 135.2 innings. He worked to the tune of a 2.92 ERA, 3.36 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP. The righty struck out 26.4% of opponents with a 7.6% walk rate. Wenninger was not home-run-prone either, with a 0.86 HR/9 ratio and a 46.5% ground-ball rate. His mix of performance and workload made him stand out among most Double-A pitchers.

He had the fourth most innings pitched among his fellow AA hurlers. Only five total Double-A pitchers started at least 25 games and had a sub-3.00 ERA. Of the 61 pitchers at AA who threw at least 100 innings, Wenninger ranked in the top 15 in ERA, FIP, WHIP, strikeout rate, and K%-BB% at 18.9%.

Wenninger’s splitter gets an impressive 70-grade by Baseball America. Only he and Nolan McLean have a 70-grade pitch in the Mets’ system, per their prospect reports. It is a mid-80s offering that gets plenty of swings and misses. That isn’t his only pitch, though. He throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball that sits around the mid-90s. Wenninger has two breaking pitches: a mid-80s slider and a low-80s curveball.

Wenninger’s splitter alone would make him a difficult prospect to part with. Finding a prospect with a plus-plus offering isn’t easy. Baseball America also recently ranked Wenninger among the Mets’ top ten prospects at no. nine. According to their rankings, the only Mets pitching prospects ranked higher than him are McLean, Tong, and Sproat.