Jonathan Santucci has spent 2026 proving he can miss bats. Now the Mets’ No. 2 prospect is showing he can do it at the Minors’ highest level, continuing a climb that has him looking more and more like the next young arm ready for the bright lights of New York.
Santucci took the mound for what is expected to be his final start of the season, striking out six over 5 1/3 innings during Triple-A Syracuse’s 5-4 win over Lehigh Valley at NBT Bank Stadium.
With the Triple-A regular season concluding on Sunday, the 23-year-old left-hander is in prime position to end up as the Minors' top strikeout pitcher with 163, which would mark the second consecutive year a Met has done so.
Right-hander Jonah Tong paced all Minor League hurlers with 179 punchouts in 2025 despite spending the final month of the season in the Majors.
A majority of Santucci’s lifting this year came for Double-A Binghamton, where he spent the first four months of the season stymying Eastern League hitters. After finishing 2025 with 10 impressive starts for the Rumble Ponies, Santucci returned this year, racking up 120 K’s in 90 2/3 innings while limiting opposing batters to a .213 average and posting a 3.57 ERA in 19 starts.
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The Duke product moved further upstate to Syracuse on July 28, and although he experienced expected growing pains at Triple-A, he also proved his swing-and-miss stuff played against experienced competition. Command -- 21 walks in 34 1/3 innings -- was Santucci’s biggest issue, but he again averaged more than a K per inning, punching out 43.
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While his 5.24 ERA at Triple-A is admittedly high, it’s somewhat skewed by two consecutive outings in which he allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, including a suspended game in which he recorded just two outs. Santucci’s ERA in his six other Triple-A starts was 3.94.
The Mets noted and honored the Massachusetts native with the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year award based on his overall body of work across two levels during a pregame ceremony at Citi Field on Sept. 14.
There are still adjustments to make before Santucci is ready for the biggest stage, but following up his strong rookie campaign of a year ago with a Minor League strikeout crown has opened a lot of eyes.
The next step is within sight, and if his development continues on its current trajectory, it may not be long before another rising arm in the organization gets his chance to make an impression in Queens.