PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Last August, when MLB Pipeline released its midseason re-rank of the Mets’ top prospects, right-hander Brandon Sproat sat atop the list. It was an aggressive ranking, considering Sproat’s brief history in pro ball, but one reflective of his season. Up until that point, Sproat was nigh unhittable.
“Of course, you see it,” Sproat said of such rankings Thursday from Clover Park, where he’s attending his first big league Spring Training. “There is no ignoring it. But that was last year. It’s a new year this year. Whatever happened last year, that’s in the past. I can’t take that over to this year. It’s only going to hurt me.”
Looking back, Sproat said, nerves played a role in what happened next. Pressure mounted -- not just because of his rise up prospect lists, but because of his rapid advancement through the farm system. Around the same time he reached No. 1 on Pipeline’s list, Sproat made it to Triple-A Syracuse, climbing to the highest level of the Minors a mere 13 months after the Mets drafted him.
When he arrived at Triple-A, Sproat had sported a 2.05 ERA over 17 appearances at High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. In seven starts at Syracuse, he produced a 7.53 ERA.
“I kind of got away from who I am up there, and that’s attacking no matter what, not worrying about results,” Sproat said. “It’s a learning curve. You learn from it and move on.”
“Honestly, it’s not going to sound right, but you want those guys to struggle in the Minor Leagues,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You want those guys to face some type of adversity and see how they’re going to respond. Because that’s part of being a big leaguer -- the mental side. How are you going to respond after a bad outing? You’re going to get knocked down. You’ve got to find a way to get back up.”
How quickly Sproat does so will be instrumental in determining how fast he can reach the Majors.
Despite the late August and September blip, Mets officials remain confident in Sproat’s bona fides as a potential frontline starter. He clearly possesses the DNA of an ace, with a fastball he can run up to 101 mph, a brand-new two-seamer that he began using late last year, “really good” changeup, as Mendoza called it, and two distinct sliders -- a sweeper as well as a tighter, more cutter-like hard one.
As Brett Baty approached the plate Thursday for a live batting practice session against Sproat, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner warned him to be ready for all five pitches -- something that’s not always the case this early in camp. Baty was, yet Sproat still managed to fool him with an unexpected four-seam, two-seam combo.
“He’s good,” Baty said. “He’s really good.”
Sproat also struck out Tyrone Taylor during the live BP session and caught a sharp comebacker from Jared Young to end his afternoon. Although it’s early in camp, the exercise marked Sproat’s first taste of big league competition. He’s spent his down time in the clubhouse picking the brains of established rotation arms Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea. He intends to continue asking questions for as long as he’s in camp.
It won’t be for the whole month of March. At some point over the next six weeks, Sproat will return to Triple-A, and the Mets’ plentiful big league rotation depth means he could take a meandering route to the Majors regardless of how well he pitches. Barring injuries, only one of veterans Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill can make New York’s six-man rotation, which makes Sproat’s path less clear than his former college teammate Christian Scott’s was a year ago.
But talent, which Sproat has in spades, tends to win out in the end -- it’s why the Mets drafted him twice out of Florida, in the third round after his junior season in 2022 and the second round as a senior in '23. It’s also why the Mets are eager to see what Sproat can do this spring, before he heads back to the Minors for what team officials hope will be his final bit of seasoning.
“You’ve got to look at it like, 'All right, I’m here today,'” Sproat said. “You’ve got to be in the moment and be present. You can’t be looking toward the future. That’s what gets people in trouble is looking toward the future.”