Speaking to reporters before his MLB debut for the Mets on Sunday, an excited Brandon Sproat shared how he learned of his promotion, his reaction to the news and what he's looking forward to most for the big day.
After reports of his call-up broke on Thursday, Sproat told his side of the story and what it means to him and his family.
"Super excited, very blessed to be here," he said. "It has not sunk in yet. I don’t think it probably will until tomorrow."
Following the news, Sproat said he held it together just long enough to call his parents before he "broke down in tears."
"We sat there and cried for some time together," he said. "Everything we’ve been through this year, they’re my backbone. They’ve been through it all with me."
The third top pitching prospect called up by New York this season, behind Nolan McLean and Saturday's starter Jonah Tong, Sproat has been able to get the lay of the land a little bit by asking his teammates and friends about their experiences during their, albeit brief, major league tenures.
"They’ve been up here for a couple weeks now, so I think it’s good for me to be able to ask them questions as well," Sproat said. "They already know some of the ropes and I’m close with them, so I’m a little more comfortable asking them the questions, but I’ll open up more as it goes on here."
Despite being leapt over by McLean and Tong and the third one of the bunch to get the call, Sproat kept his feet firmly on the ground and didn't let himself wonder if a promotion would happen this year.
Instead, he leaned on his faith and his family and kept pitching well for Triple-A to give himself a shot.
"You gotta give him credit, he went through a lot," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "It wasn’t easy for him. Even when he started pitching well, he wasn’t the one who was called up right away. And I’m pretty sure it was a struggle for him… and he kept doing what he needed to do in order to get the call. So it says a lot about his personality and the type of kid he is."
In fact, after a disastrous first half of the season, the right-hander completely turned it around during the second half by getting "back to the basics." Now, after all of his hard work, Sproat will make his debut and try to help a Mets team in the midst of a playoff push.
"It’s awesome to be able to come up here and help the guys and really just go out there and compete and just try to win every single game," Sproat said.
Still just 24 years old, Sproat also got some advice for tomorrow's game by the longest-tenured Met on the roster: Brandon Nimmo.
"I talked to Nimmo earlier and he told me one thing, he was like ‘whether it’s before your outing, during your outing, I want you to take 15 seconds and just look around and just soak it all in. Because whenever your debut is done, you’re gonna realize, oh wow, it’s already over.’
"He told me to do that and it makes a lot of sense. He’s been there before, so definitely gonna go out there tomorrow and just look around, find my family in the stands and just soak it all in."
Mets players have been doing a lot of soaking in lately following the debuts of McLean and Tong. Now it's Sproat's turn to showcase his stuff.
And while he shouldn't feel the need to compare himself to the others, if Sproat's debut goes anything like McLean and Tong's, New York looks poised to have an exciting finish to its season and perhaps a great start for its future.
"There’s a ton of talent up here, a ton of talent in the minors," Sproat said. "Seeing what Nolan’s done so far it’s incredible. Seeing Jonah’s debut that’s incredible as well. There’s other guys in Triple-A that are having really good success… I think the Mets have a great farm system and they do things right. I think there’s a bright future for us."
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