3 Mets prospects who are off to strong starts in the lower minor leagues this season

New York Mets pitching prospect Jawilme Ramirez is pitching like he'll appear on team prospect rankings soon in Class-A St. Lucie.

One of the best pitchers for the Mets' Class-A affiliate in St. Lucie has been 21-year old Jawilme Ramirez, who has pitched in three games (including one start), and has a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings under his belt and a 3.75-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Ramirez is known to have a solid repertoire of pitches that he can use to put hitters away easily, and he carried his excellent 2022 season, one where he was named Florida Complex League Pitcher of the Year (Rookie class), into the start of the season. That is impressive for his young age, where some pitchers are known to only have developed a couple of pitches.

Ramirez is projecting to be a long relief man or someone who can make a spot start here and there because of not only how long he can go in an outing (his three outings this season have lasted 73, 78, and 85 pitches) but also the aforementioned slider/changeup mix and an elevated fastball that ranges in the low to mid-90s in velocity.

But the thing that'll get him to the next level is consistency in getting hitters out, and that is what enabled his fast rise from the Dominican Summer League to Class-A.