While pushing for postseason, Mets hope Brandon Sproat can perform like fellow rookie pitchers

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Sep 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CINCINNATI — The Mets are facing two crucial road series, starting this weekend in Cincinnati and continuing Monday in Philadelphia. With their playoff hopes hinging on a scuffling starting rotation, they’ve made the decision to call up pitching prospect Brandon Sproat from Triple-A Syracuse.

No pressure, kid.

The right-hander is set to make his big league debut this weekend against the Reds, who are five games out from the third NL Wild Card spot — the spot the Mets currently occupy. A source confirmed to the Daily News on Thursday that Sproat will be called up this weekend, with reports saying the right-hander will pitch in Sunday’s series finale. He’s looked ready for the next step most of this season, with impressive strikeout numbers and poise on the mound.

This will give the Mets three homegrown rookie starters in the rotation, and four homegrown starters overall with left-hander David Peterson in the midst of another solid season. Should Tylor Megill return to the rotation, it would make five. It’s a huge accomplishment for a player development program that struggled to develop pitching in recent seasons.

The well ran dry on frontline starters after Steven Matz graduated to the big leagues in 2015 season. Megill has had plenty of ups and downs, and there were questions about what kind of future Peterson would have until he established himself last season. They let Mike Vasil go in the Rule 5 Draft last winter, and some of their other starting pitching prospects were moved to the bullpen in the minor leagues.

It’s a sign of good things to come for the future, especially if Sproat can pitch as well as his fellow rookie rotation-members, Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong. But it’s also a move that had to be made for the sake of the season. The Mets are close to locking up a playoff spot, but they’ll need to stave off Cincinnati this weekend. The San Francisco Giants are suddenly surging, only four games behind the Mets, with outfielder Logan Gilbert, part of the Tyler Rogers trade, playing a big role.

After needing an extra day last season to clinch a Wild Card spot, the Mets have been vocal about wanting to make their path easier this year. At 75-65, they’re not far behind the San Diego Padres (76-64) or the Chicago Cubs (80-60) in the Wild Card standings. They’re 5.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East. They’ll face all three opponents in the coming weeks.

With so much at stake, the club can’t afford to keep both Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea in the rotation. Since June 12 when Senga injured his hamstring, the Mets have received only 3.8 WAR from their starting pitchers. They’ve posted a 4.98 ERA in that span, 24th in baseball, and have managed only 338.0 innings. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates have received fewer innings from their rotation in that time.

The rotation was ravaged by injuries and there were no real fortifications they could get at the trade deadline.

Since returning from the injured list, Senga has gone 0-3 with a 5.90 ERA over nine starts. The walks have become especially problematic as the strike zone continues to elude him. When he does throw his stuff in the zone, it usually gets hit.

It’s a stunning fall from where he was two years ago as an NL Rookie of the Year finalist, and a big departure from where he was earlier this season, when he had a 1.47 ERA in his first 13 starts. The 32-year-old has expressed frustration with an inability to get the kind of explosive movement on his pitches that he has in the past. He seems to be at a loss for answers. This isn’t the kind of pitcher you can just move to the bullpen. Senga is diligent in his work, but needs things to be precise.

Last year, the Mets let him call some of his own shots on his rehab from the shoulder injury that sidelined him from spring training until August. When his mechanics didn’t feel right, they let him pause his minor league assignment to work on them. There was an obvious lack of communication between Senga and the team.

The communication has to be there now, however, since the club will have to get his approval to go down to the minor leagues. His contract has minor league options, but he can reject the assignment.

Manaea, who battled an oblique strain on his right side and loose bodies in his pitching elbow, cannot be sent to the minor leagues. The Mets would have to eat a lot of money on his three-year, $75 million contract. What the Mets could do with Manaea is get creative with an opener, or piggyback him with another starter like Clay Holmes, who isn’t often able to go deep into games either.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the only team in a playoff spot that has received fewer innings from their starting pitchers this season. Oddly enough, the Mets may end up facing them in the first round of the postseason. Of course, the Mets have to get there first.

To do that, they’ll need Sproat.

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