The Mets, in need of healthy starting pitchers, opted to keep Brandon Sproat down with Triple-A Syracuse and gave Justin Hagenman the start against the Yankees on Friday night. While Hagenman allowed four runs over 4.1 innings in a 6-5 win, Sproat made the most of his start in the minors.
The 24-year-old had one of his best outings of the season, throwing five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts against a Worcester team featuring former top prospect Kristian Campbell (who's back down in Triple-A after making Boston's Opening Day roster) and Vaughn Grissom (95 MLB games with Atlanta and Boston).
Sproat allowed just two hits over the five innings of work, one to Campbell in the third and another to Karson Simas in the fifth inning. The right-hander threw a total of 89 pitches (51 strikes) and walked one. His fastball peaked at 99.3 mph.
Sproat has now thrown 11 straight scoreless innings, following his six scoreless innings on June 28, and lowered his ERA to 5.05 in what's been an up-and-down year in Triple-A.
While he was considered an option to pitch in the Subway Series matchup, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Thursday prior to the team's series finale against the Brewers that his "preference is to not bring up a top prospect for a spot start."Frankie Montas is scheduled to pitch Saturday, but Sunday's plans are still undetermined and looking like a potential bullpen game.
If Sproat keeps up this hot stretch, he could force Stearns' hand and get called up sooner than later.
Meanwhile, Syracuse went on to win the game 4-0 and scored all four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, including a three-run homer from Gilberto Celestino. Luisangel Acuña went 2-for-4 with a strikeout, boosting his average in the minors to .303 over 33 at-bats. Francisco Alvarez went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, a walk, and a run scored. Drew Gilbert, who's hit three homers this week, went 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base. Brooks Raley ended up earning the win, tossing a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. He's yet to allow a run over 6.1 IP with 11 strikeouts during his rehab.
Brooks Raley gets the strikeout to get out of the jam in his rehab outing for Triple-A Syracuse! pic.twitter.com/SuBt9KMWaS
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 5, 2025
Out in Binghamton, top prospect Jonah Tong struck out 10 Hartford batters, but got the loss in a 4-1 defeat after allowing two runs over 5.2 innings.
Overall, he threw 92 pitches (56 strikes) and allowed four hits and two walks. His season ERA took a small jump up to 1.83 from 1.73 with the outing.
Tong is now 6-4 over 15 starts and 78.2 IP for Double-A Binghamton with an impressive 125 strikeouts and 0.93 WHIP. He was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for June, after taking home the honor in May, and will play in the MLB All-Star Futures game on July 12. He'll be joined in Atlanta by Binghamton teammate Carson Benge, who was recently promoted to Double-A after owning an .897 OPS in 60 games for High-A Brooklyn.
Benge went 0-for-4 on Friday night as the Rumble Ponies bats were pretty quiet in the loss, totaling just five hits, including two from Jett Williams and one from Ryan Clifford.
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