The Mets’ player development system is on the rise, having recently churned out multiple potential impact players and with lots more waiting in the wings.
And on MLB Pipeline’s updated Top 100 prospects list, six Mets made the cut.
Those prospects:
No. 31: Jett Williams
No. 39: Christian Scott
No. 40: Drew Gilbert
No. 72: Ryan Clifford
No. 93: Luisangel Acuña
No. 98: Brandon Sproat
The above six players are all ranked among the top seven in the Mets’ system on Joe DeMayo’s updated Top 30 list for SNY.
Williams is out for the season due to a wrist injury, Scott has already made his big league debut (and will be back in the rotation on Wednesday), and Gilbert is nearing a return from a hamstring issue that his kept him out since the beginning of April.
As far as the other three prospects…
Clifford was recently promoted from High-A Brooklyn to Double-A Binghamton, due in part to the tough hitting conditions in Brooklyn, where he hit just one homer in 31 games. And his power has been on display since being bumped up.
In 39 games for Binghamton, Clifford has hit nine homers and eight doubles. His batting average is just .180, but he’s getting on base at a .350 clip and has an .818 OPS.
In 24 games last month, Acuña hit .298/.348/.413. Along the way, he had nine multi-hit games. And he hit safely in 15 of 16 games to close the month.
Meanwhile, Acuña has swiped 26 bags in 76 games this season after stealing 57 in 121 games last year.
Sproat, whom the Mets selected in the second round of last year’s MLB Draft, has had an eye-popping season so far.
Featuring a fastball that can hit triple digits, the 23-year-old right-hander carved his way through Brooklyn (1.07 ERA in six starts) before earning a promotion to Double-A, where he’s continued to dominate.
In 41.2 innings over seven starts for the Rumble Ponies, Sproat has a 1.94 ERA and 0.88 WHIP with 43 strikeouts.
In recognition of his prowess, Sproat will be part of the National League roster for the Futures Game, to be held on July 13 as part of All-Star Weekend in Texas. He is the Mets’ only representative.
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