The Mets have added RP A.J. Minter, 1B/OF Jared Young, and 1B/3B/OF Eric Wagaman to the major league roster while optioning OF Nick Morabito and RP Jonathan Pintaro to Triple-A and placing Tyrone Taylor to the injured list.
Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The biggest move is reliever A.J. Minter, who looked very strong in his rehab appearances, pitching to a 1.59 ERA and 0.71 WHIP across 11.1 innings. While his velocity was still down from 2025, his movement profiles are still strong and he was still able to generate significant chase and whiff. Minter is being activated from the 60-day injured list so someone will need to be removed from the 40-man roster for him. (The Mets said it’d be announced prior to the game.)
It is possible one of the players currently on the injured list like Luis Robert Jr. could be moved to the 60-day IL. His injured list stint began April 27, which was 29 days ago, so being added to the 60-day IL would only put him out until June 25. He does not have a timeline yet to return so he would likely return later than that as it is.
In 33 games with the Mets across 2025 and 2026, Jared Young has put up a .762 OPS and 110 WRC+. At Syracuse, he has a .939 OPS and 144 WRC+. Young can play first base and corner outfield and hits the ball incredibly hard with a 107.9 miles per hour 90% exit velocity this year (91st percentile) and a 16.7% barrel rate (96th percentile). These are roughly in line with where he was in Syracuse last year. He is unlikely to hit for a high average, but he provides much needed power on this Mets roster.
Wagaman Return to MLB
Eric Wagaman also hits the ball hard. In 2025 he maxed out at 114.5 miles per hour with a 107.1 miles per hour 90% exit velocity. He also ran a plus zone-contact rate at 85%. He pulls the ball in the air, lifts the ball, and does not have a ton of swing and miss. It almost does not make sense that he has not been better in the majors, though sometimes that can happen when your career sample size is smaller than a season’s worth of games.
He is much better against left-handed pitching than right-handed pitching, and while he primarily is a first baseman, he is usable as needed at third base and in the corner outfield spots. In 13 games in May at Triple-A Wagaman is hitting .372/.462/.581/1.043.
Nick Morabito. Photo Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
Morabito, Pintaro Return to Minors
Going the other direction, Nick Morabito looked completely overmatched by major league pitching. His 57.1% zone-contact rate was the worst in the majors, he struck out 69.2% of the time, he did not hit a ball harder than 96.5 miles per hour, and he did not walk once. He did not dominate Triple-A pitching, so this should not be a huge surprise and realistically his future role in the majors may be largely a defensive replacement and pinch runner on the bench. To be more than that he will need to increase his damage rates without sacrificing contact, something he has yet been able to accomplish. Defensively, he is strong in the corners and is able to play center field ,which does give him some future value in the majors. If he spends 20 days in the minors, his first option will be utilized.
Jonathan Pintaro was optioned, too, but will likely return to the majors this year after two strong appearances. I have pointed out here before how similar his pitch mix and movement profile is to Padres starting pitcher Michael King, but how his control and command of his pitches lags by quite a bit. In his small sample in the majors, Pintaro showed much better command of his pitches than he had in Triple-A so far this year. His velocity was also up a tick across the board. We are talking an incredibly small sample size here but these are things to pay attention to.
Mets major league pitching coach Justin Willard is known for helping pitchers attack the zone so it will be interesting to see if any of that translates going forward.
