Mets prospect Matt Allan replaced by new draft pick as top minor league pitcher

Tommy John Surgery claimed Matt Allan and stole away his entire 2022 season. MLB.com took notice in their latest updated list of the top 30 New York Mets prospects. Allan, who had been sitting pretty at around 5 or 6 for most of the year has dropped to number 10.

No longer the top pitching prospect in the team’s farm system, he has been passed both by last year’s draft pick Calvin Ziegler (9) and one of the newest members of the organization, Blade Tidwell (8).

It’s Tidwell who now holds the title of the top Mets pitching prospect.

Blade Tidwell is the top-ranked Mets pitching prospect according to MLB.com

Tidwell, 21, doesn’t have a quick ETA to the major leagues despite some college experience and his age. MLB.com has his estimated time of arrival listed as 2025 which might not be ambitious enough. He’s a timetable he could certainly beat but fair enough for him to reach the majors at 24.

Any action we see from Tidwell this year might be more about getting to know the organization better and the life of a minor league pitcher. Any numbers he puts up don’t really matter. That’s the goal for next season.

Amazingly, it shouldn’t take Tidwell long to actually pass Allan in total innings pitched. Allan only logged 10.1 frames back in 2019 during his first and still only professional season. A pandemic and some injuries later, he’s no longer the high school pitcher the Mets drafted. He’s now a 21-year-old on the same trajectory toward the major leagues as Tidwell.

Lucky enough for the 2025 Mets, Ziegler also has an ETA of that year as well. He’s still only 19 but has far more professional experience than Allan and what Tidwell will end this season with.

It wasn’t long ago that the Mets were missing notable pitching prospects in the farm system. While we do have to go down a few flights of stairs to find the first at number 8, the next few prospects they have are also arms.

As the position players at the top of the prospect ranking graduate, these pitchers should rise. They may also find themselves moving up by performance alone. Mike Vasil (11) is one of those pitchers who is already on the climb.