Unhittable Mets prospect lands on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list

It took just under 70 innings of professional baseball for Brandon Sproat to showcase how good of a player he could end up being. Mediocre numbers at best in college, the New York Mets have had their eye on him for a while now.

After going unsigned following a seventh round selection by the Texas Rangers in 2019 out of high school, the Mets tried to add him to the organization in 2022 as a third round pick. Again, he went unsigned. The very next draft, and selected one round higher, Sproat came to an agreement but wouldn’t pitch an inning professionally until the 2024 season.

Sproat has rewarded the Mets with their patience. At 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA with more than half of those innings coming in Double-A, he is a revelation in the farm system. MLB Pipeline acknowledged it by naming him a top 100 prospect in their latest update.

Mets prospect Brandon Sproat is rising quickly

Jumping from Brooklyn to Binghamton as fast as he did and without missing a beat should have us wondering how soon Sproat will indeed be in the big leagues. He has an ETA of 2025 which is completely reasonable. Opening Day is a reach. By May, if all goes well and there is room, Sproat seems assured to get some MLB innings even if it’s in a careful, kid’s glove fashion.

Sproat’s placement in the top 100 landed him at 98th. Often arbitrarily ranked at times, it’s only a few spots behind Luisangel Acuna who now sits at 93rd. 

The Mets have several top 100 prospects. Jett Williams, despite his injury this year, is at 31. Christian Scott and Drew Gilbert aren’t far behind at 39 and 40. Before we get to Acuna and Sproat, we find Ryan Clifford at 72.

Sproat has leapfrogged other Mets pitching prospects who’ve spent this year struggling in Triple-A. Mike Vasil and Dom Hamel have gotten knocked around plenty for Syracuse. It’s now Sproat who trails Scott as the team’s best pitching prospect.

Although his ERA has gone from 1.07 in High-A to 1.94 in Double-A, Sproat has been tougher in a different way. He has traded a walk rate of 5.7 per 9 in Brooklyn to only 2.2 per 9 in Binghamton. The strikeouts are down from 11.7 per 9 to 9.3 per 9 with a WHIP going from 1.10 to 0.88.

One negative for Sproat has been allowing home runs at nearly double the rate. Laughably, it went from 0.4 per 9 to a still awesome 0.9 per 9. Mastering his control was the far bigger challenge for him as it was one element holding him back as an amateur. Not so much anymore.