5 Mets pitching prospects that can contribute in 2024

The New York Mets have had a quiet offseason through January. Their free agent signings have consisted of one-year contracts with the hopes of bounce-back performances from the likes of Harrison Bader and Luis Severino. Without interest in moving top prospects, their only trade of significance has been acquiring Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor from the Milwaukee Brewers for Coleman Crow. Much to Mets fans' ire, it seems the offseason could be completed with many underlying questions to be answered before opening day.

For the Mets to contend in 2024, they will be reliant on the young prospects at their disposal to perform well upon entering the major leagues. The most notable have been the position players led by Jett Williams, Drew Gilbert, and Luisangel Acuna. While these players will draw the most attention, the team's biggest asset will come from the pitching side as many of their prospects are being undervalued for their performances in 2023. Furthermore, the trend in baseball has been the rise in expense to acquire quality pitching while drafting and developing young arms has become more difficult. With this in mind, if we had to create a 5-man rotation of just Mets prospects, who would be a part of that depth chart?

1. Christian Scott

A new pitcher has emerged as the most notable in the Mets' farm system. Drafted out of the University of Florida in the 5th round of 2021, Christian Scott has risen to become the Mets' top pitching prospect. Drafted as a relief pitcher, Scott has taken some time to adjust back to a starting role. Evaluators in the front office believe his 98 MPH fastball coupled with his Max Scherzer-created slider can propel his trajectory to becoming a number 3 starter by mid-season 2024. 

The Mets were proven correct in 2023 as Scott dominated across 19 starts with minor league affiliates Brooklyn and Binghamton, holding a 2.57 ERA across 87.2 innings pitched. He struck out 107 batters in that time with an impressive 12 walks and 63 hits allowed. These numbers were notable enough for PECOTA to list Scott as their 88th-best prospect out of the top 101. The only knock-on Scott has been his failure to this point in developing a third pitch he can trust. So far, he has been working on a changeup that improved dramatically in 2023. Should he enhance this pitch, Scott could become the biggest steal of the 2021 draft class.

2. Mike Vasil

The Mets have a history of taking arms later in the draft and developing them into solid major-league starters. This would be the hope for Mike Vasil, a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher selected in the 8th round of the 2021 draft. After struggling in collegiate ball for the University of Virginia, Vasil has reconfigured his repertoire well enough to earn himself recognition at the MLB Futures Game this past July. Vasil's fastball sits at an average of 92-95 MPH, but his spin rate is advanced at 2,300-2,500 RPM. His vertical slider and low-80 MPH curveball with great downward movement play well with his newly reworked 4-seam fastball.

Vasil is coming off an inconsistent 2023 campaign. He started the season at AA Binghamton, where he pitched to a 3.71 ERA across 51 innings with 57 strikeouts. While these stats are not eye-opening, his control was immense walking just 8 batters across 10 starts. This was enough to earn Vasil a promotion to AAA Syracuse where he had difficulty adapting to the new automated strike-zone. As a result, Vasil pitched to a 5.30 ERA across 73 innings with 38 walks and 81 strikeouts. Even though his numbers ballooned upon the promotion, this has been the trend across baseball as most pitchers struggled in AAA. Should Vasil recapture his form from AA, he could earn an early season promotion.

3. Blade Tidwell

The University of Tennessee is represented well in the Mets' farm system, and it's not secluded to just Gilbert. Drafted in the 2nd round of 2022, Blade Tidwell is a hard-throwing 22-year-old right-handed pitcher from the same program as Gilbert. His fastball sits in the mid-90s with immense movement up in the strike zone, while his mid-80s slider has become a great compliment. Tidwell is working on the vertical break to his upper-70s curveball and the sink to his low-80s changeup to give him a 4-pitch arsenal. Should these pitches continue to develop, Mets officials believe Tidwell could become better than just a back-to-mid rotation starter.

Tidwell is proving the evaluators correct, having thrown to a 3.57 ERA across 116 innings with 153 strikeouts between Brooklyn and Binghamton. While Tidwell struggled upon his promotion to AA, he finished the season strong helping Binghamton reach the playoffs. His only staggering statistic is the 63 walks allowed in 25 starts, though the control issues could be linked to fatigue from his first full minor league season. If Tidwell can refine his command from Single-A, he will become the Mets' most intriguing pitching prospect and could earn a September call-up in 2024.