Mets' No. 4 prospect dials long distance in both ends of Triple-A doubleheader
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Ryan Clifford finally had enough, so he did something about it. And then he did it again.
Homerless through the first three weeks of the season after going deep a career-high 29 times in 2025, the Mets' No. 4 prospect put together a breakout afternoon for Triple-A Syracuse, teeing off in both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at NBT Bank Stadium.
Clifford's combined four hits and five RBIs paced the Mets' offense, helping the club to a doubleheader sweep with 9-4 and 7-4 victories.
Clifford is tapping into his power at an opportune time, particularly with the Mets trying to find a suitable first baseman at the Major League level. The hulking 22-year-old had not gone deep since the final day of the 2025 season, a span of 66 plate appearances heading into Saturday's opener.
Clifford put an end to that drought in the opening frame, crushing a 107.9 mph three-run jack to right field off RailRiders starter Adam Kloffenstein (Yankees). He singled in his second at-bat for his first multihit game since April 2 and walked later in the contest. It marked the first time Clifford had reached base three times in a game this season.
Having found the range in the opener, the Raleigh, N.C., native launched his second long ball of the day to right-center field off right-hander Dom Hamel in the second inning. His 104.9 mph jack opened the scoring for Syracuse, and he added on with an even more impressive 113.1 mph seed for an RBI double in the third.
Clifford's big day hiked his OPS to a far-more respectable .767, a massive improvement over the .548 mark he possessed after a hitless outing on April 11. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder has slashed .350/.435/.800 with five extra-base hits, five RBIs and three walks in six games since.
It's probably no coincidence that Clifford's recent hot streak has paralleled his ability to take a walk.
Known for his prodigious power -- as well as plenty of swing-and-miss -- Clifford also has a strong grasp of the strike zone, but his power outage wasn't the only thing missing from his game in the early stages of 2026. The 2022 11th-rounder entered the day with a 10.9 percent walk rate, down precipitously from 2024 (17.6 percent), as well as last year's 14.7 percent.
However, that too appears to be coming around. Clifford has walked six times in his past 10 games after he earned just two free passes in his first nine contests of 2026. He's also gone three consecutive games without striking out -- something he's done only four other times in his pro career -- after fanning in each of his first 16 games this season (26 total).
But the Mets will gladly accept that part of his game in exchange for the game-changing power he supplies. The thunder in his bat is exactly the kind of difference-making player they’re willing to bet he can become.