The best Baseball Savant percentile from these NY Mets rookies

There hasn't been a lot for Mets fans to be excited about this year, although some of the new prospects in town after the trade deadline have helped to assuage the frustrations of a lost season. Aside from that, the main thing keeping Mets fans tuning into this team has been a series of intriguing performances from young up-and-comers on the roster. While Jefry Yan has gotten all the attention in recent weeks, there are other youngsters who will be far more impactful going forward.

The stats for a lot of these young players might not immediately jump off the page, but there's some seriously exciting signs for the future hiding under the hood with each of them. Let's dive in courtesy of Baseball Savant, and take a peek at where each of the Mets' top youngsters has impressed so far this year.

Nolan McLean's strikeouts are exciting, but Christian Scott might be even more so

Right-hander Nolan McLean was talked about headed into last winter as the franchise's savior on the pitching side of things, with true ace potential for as soon as this season. In that regard, 2026 could be considered a disappointment for the righty. A season 19% better than league average by ERA+ isn't going to win any Cy Young awards, but those pie-in-the-sky expectations for the 25-year-old always seemed overblown.

By any other metric, McLean's year has been one to get excited about. A 3.42 ERA in 24 starts is nothing to scoff at in the righty's first big league season, and the way he's done it looks very sustainable. McLean's 28.0% strikeout rate lands him in the 85th percentile of pitchers this year according to Baseball Savant, and he backs that up with a solid 46.0% ground ball rate that ranks in the 70th percentile.

Of the ten other qualified starters with a strikeout rate as high as McLean's, only Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, and Jacob Misiorowski have higher ground ball rates. That's great company to keep, and McLean being in such rarefied air suggests his future is very bright. Significant as that is for the Mets, Christian Scott's rookie year might be even more exciting. He's actually been better than McLean when it comes to strikeouts, with a 28.8% strikeout rate that ranks in the 88th percentile.

Much of that is due to Scott's elite extension, which Savant rates in the 89th percentile of all pitchers this year. It's not exactly shocking that the 6'4'' Scott has elite extension given his height, but the results are nonetheless significant; by getting the ball closer to the mound before throwing his pitches, Scott's already solid 95.3 mph velocity on his heater plays up substantially. That, naturally, helps lead to oodles of strikeouts. If he can keep this up, a spot in next year's rotation is assured.

Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing look to be the future of the Mets' outfield

The story of the Mets' outfield is somewhat similar to the story of its rotation this year. Much like McLean, Carson Benge was heralded as the future of the franchise headed into 2026. While Benge wasn't exactly in the All-Star conversation the way some Mets fans surely dreamed he might be, he's still shown himself to be an exciting piece for the team's future. At just 23 years old, Benge is hitting .274 with 13 homers, 18 steals, and a .749 OPS.

Better yet, Benge might actually be have put together an even stronger season than those numbers might indicate. According to Statcast, Benge's expected batting average is actually ten points higher than his actual batting average. That .284 xBA is truly elite among all hitters this year, landing him in the 93rd percentile. Just 17 hitters have a higher xBA than Benge, and nearly any Mets fan would take that sort of production from Benge in 2027.

Impressive as Benge has been, he too isn't even the most exciting story in the Mets outfield from this year. A.J. Ewing burst onto the scene this year as a lesser-known prospect who quickly made himself into the team's starting center fielder. While Ewing's 102 OPS+ is impressive in its own right given that he entered the year without a clear path to a role on the team, his real calling card has been his defense. Savant puts Ewing's Outs Above Average in the 90th percentile among all fielders this year.

Just 16 outfielders in the majors this year have posted more OAA than Ewing, making him one of the league's premiere outfield defenders already. In addition to that strong glove and his decent bat, Ewing has swiped 15 bags this year thanks to his 95th percentile sprint speed. His 29.5 feet per second ties NL MVP candidate and former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, with just a handful of speedsters outpacing that. Those well-rounded stats should give Ewing a role for years to come.

The early returns on Zac Thornton create cause for concern

While McLean, Scott, Ewing, and Benge have all been exciting additions to the future of the Mets' franchise, the same cannot be said about every young player the Mets have brought up. Lefty Zac Thornton stands as a premiere example. He's made eight starts at the big league level this year, and the results have been excellent with a 2.78 ERA in 45 1/3 innings of work.

Those are good numbers, especially for a rookie pitcher. The 24-year-old could certainly be an asset going forward, and perhaps even an impact piece. For now, however, there are red flags in the underlying numbers that can't be ignored. Thornton's best attribute according to Savant is his 7.3% walk rate, which lands in the 66th percentile among all pitchers.

It's a decent enough rating on its face, but Thornton has been below average in every single other metric Savant measures. He gives up too many barrels, doesn't record enough strikeouts, can't keep the ball on the ground, and has low-end velocity for a modern starting pitcher. That's just not a package that projects well, and Thornton will have to improve his underlying skills or beat the odds in a big way if he's going to continue succeeding in the majors going forward.

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