Mets top prospect Brandon Sproat throws six scoreless innings in third straight strong Triple-A outing

Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat appears to have found his stride in Triple-A. 

The young right-hander has now recorded three consecutive strong outings after putting together six efficient innings of work in Game 1 of Friday afternoon’s doubleheader with the Buffalo Bisons.

Sproat allowed leadoff singles in each of the first two innings, but he used a double play to erase the threat both times. He was then helped out by a caught stealing and worked around a two-out walk in the top of the third.

The 24-year-old began cruising from there, retiring the next eight batters before allowing Jonatan Clase to reach on a two-out infield single in the sixth. Sproat then retired the next batter to end his day on a high note.

Overall, he allowed just four hits and a walk while striking out one across six shutout innings.

He touched 99.5 mph with his fastball and leaned heavily on his sweeper, throwing it 38 percent of the time.

Sproat was knocked around toward the end of last season with Syracuse, but he’s settled in at the new level, allowing just two runs while striking out nine in 14.1 innings over his last three appearances (1.26 ERA).

While the Mets likely want to see him continue this stretch of strong pitching, he’s certainly knocking on the door.

According to reports, he was among the options New York was considering as a spot starter against the Cardinals before Griffin Canning was scratched Wednesday due to an illness. Justin Hagenman came up instead.

If Sproat can continue pitching like this, it likely won’t be long before he receives the call too.

Read the full article here