The New York Mets’ farm system had an incredibly wild day on Saturday, with a blown late lead, a one-hitter, a suspended game, and a bizarre one in St. Lucie.
The performance of the day goes to Brooklyn Cyclones’ (High-A) starter Channing Austin, who went 5 2/3 scoreless with just one hit and seven strikeouts. The 24-year-old is putting his name on some radars early this season, and could find himself cracking the back-half of top-30 prospect lists if he keeps his current pace up. On the other side, the Syracuse (Triple-A) bullpen squandered Jonah Tong‘s great start, allowing eight runs in three innings of work.
Jonah Tong via Syracuse Mets
Triple-A
Lehigh Valley (17-15) 7, Syracuse (17-14) 6
- LF Cristian Pache: 2-3, 2 2B, SB (.831 OPS)
- RF A.J. Ewing: 2-5, SB (1.314 OPS)
- 3B Christian Arroyo: 1-3, BB, SB (.768 OPS)
- DH Ryan Clifford: 1-5, BB (.713 OPS)
The Syracuse offense got off to a hot start on Saturday, and it more than did its part to remain in the game. A.J. Ewing has been impressive since reaching Triple-A, and could find his way to Queens before long if he continues his production at the plate, along with his strong defense and stellar running game. Cristian Pache might not be far off the Mets’ radar with their recent offensive struggles, and his two-double performance certainly helped.
- RHP Jonah Tong: 6 IP, H, R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (4.60 ERA)
- RHP Joey Gerber: IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, K (7.71 ERA)
- LHP Anderson Severino: IP, H, R, 0 ER, K (0.00 ERA)
- RHP Luke Jackson: 0.1 IP, H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, K (81.00 ERA)
After signing a minor-league contract with the team, Luke Jackson was roughed up in his debut with the Mets’ organization. Jonah Tong turned in a strong start for Syracuse, looking much more like the player who dominated minor league baseball throughout the 2025 season. Tong did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, marking his longest no-hit bid since just last year with Binghamton (Double-A). The bullpen behind him allowed seven earned runs, wasting his incredibly strong performance.
Jonathan Santucci. Photo by Binghamton Rumble Ponies
Double-A
New Hampshire (14-9) 2, Binghamton (9-16) 1 / SUSPENDED – Bottom 4th
- 3B Jacob Reimer: 1-3 (.675 OPS
- LF Jose Ramos: 1-2 (.625 OPS)
Binghamton only had four trips to the plate before the game was suspended on Saturday, recording only two hits in the four innings. Ramos will lead off for Binghamton when play resumes.
- LHP Jonathan Santucci: 3.2 IP, H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 5 K (5.57 ERA)
Santucci was struggling mightily with his command in this game, putting seven runners on base before the rain bailed him out for the day. Whoever resumes the game for the Rumble Ponies will have to deal with a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the bottom of the fourth with the bottom of the Fisher Cats lineup at the plate.
Channing Austin. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
High-A
Brooklyn (7-18) 3, Frederick (13-12) 0
- CF John Bay: 1-3, BB, 2B (.854 OPS)
- C Ronald Hernandez: 1-2, HR, 2 BB (.739 OPS)
- 1B Trace Willhoite: 1-3, 3B, BB (.717 OPS)
The Cyclones’ offense did the bare minimum they needed to on Saturday to bring home a win, scoring two runs and recording just five hits as a whole in a shutout win. Ronald Hernandez connected for his first homer of the year, while John Bay continued his incredible start to the season with another double and multi-total base performance.
- RHP Channing Austin: 5.2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (1.21 ERA)
- RHP Juan Arnaud: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (4.70 ERA)
- RHP Hoss Brewer: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB (5.00 ERA)
- RHP Hunter Hodges: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, K (4.66 ERA)
Undrafted free agent Channing Austin, albeit much older than the average age of a player in High-A, has continued to dominate the High-A ranks to begin his third professional season. He was backed up by superb pitching out of the Cyclones’ bullpen, with 10 straight outs being recorded by the Brooklyn staff. In total, just four Keys reached base in a combined one-hitter effort.
Single-A
Tampa (12-14) 5, St. Lucie (11-15) 2
- C Chase Meggers: 1-4 (.586 OPS)
- 1B Randy Guzman: 1-3 (.906 OPS)
- DH Julio Zayas: 1-3 (.635 OPS)
- CF Edward Lantigua: 0-3, 2 SB (.435 OPS)
The St. Lucie bats were incredibly quiet on Saturday night, mustering just two runs and posing minimal threats for the majority of the night. Randy Guzman has continued to be an interesting name to follow on the farm so far, and could find his way to High-A Brooklyn before long, which would be a much more significant test of his skills in such a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Despite not recording a hit, Edward Lantigua recorded his first multi-steal game of the season.
- RHP Jose Chirinos: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (2.84 ERA)
- RHP Elwis Mijares: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 3 K (2.38 ERA)
Unlike the hitting, the Mets’ pitching staff was incredibly strong Saturday afternoon. Jose Chirinos and Elwis Mijares combined for seven solid innings, giving their bats every chance to bring them back into the game. The issue, however, was that the St. Lucie defense let Chirinos down early on, contributing to his three unearned runs on the day.
