3 Mets minor leaguers who should have numbers begging for an MLB promotion but don't

3) Mike Vasil

There are a couple of notable prospects who could be considered for this third spot. Drew Gilbert’s injury got in the way of him doing much of anything. Seemingly healthy yet arguably the least effective pitcher down there is Mike Vasil. It has been an extremely disappointing beginning for him. Has he hit some sort of a Triple-A wall?

Vasil struggled in 16 starts with Syracuse last season, finishing with a 5.30 ERA. Several of the metrics rated well including walks and strikeouts. This year has been much different. The 11.20 ERA in 4 starts with a walk rate of 5.3 per 9 and strikeouts at 6.6 per 9 clearly show something is going haywire. Vasil has surrendered 5 home runs and 23 hits through those first 13.2 innings of work.

Vasil has now fallen behind Christian Scott on everyone’s radar and could soon see some of the other notable pitching prospects overtake him on the depth chart. Teammate Dom Hamel hasn’t been terrific either but with an ERA almost only half as high as Vasil and far more strikeouts in fewer innings, it’s clear who is buried deeper.

Fortunately, the Mets probably weren’t counting on Vasil to do a whole lot this year. They began the year with a bunch of starting pitching options in the minors, having already turned to Jose Butto for a couple of outings. Joey Lucchesi should be next in line for an opportunity.

As for Vasil, he’s in a spot where the 2024 season might be nothing but innings for Syracuse.