Today was a big day for the Mets minor league offenses, especially from new additions Jefferson Rojas and Sammy Stafura. Elian Peña has continued to look great. The pitching was more uneven but had some great performances including two strong rehab assignments.
Triple-A
Syracuse (56-58) 6, Jacksonville (57-56) 3
Box Score
- RF Ryan Clifford: 0-for-3, R, BB
- RF Nick Morabito: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB, SB
- 2B Ronny Mauricio: 0-for-4
- LF MJ Melendez: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
- 3B Andy Ibáñez: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI
- 1B Eric Wagaman: 1-for-4
The Syracuse lineup brought out the big bats today slugging three home runs to drive in six runs. Ryan Clifford unfortunately continues to struggle but Nick Morabito and Ronny Mauricio are making strong cases to return to the majors. Mauricio is fighting for not just a future roster spot, but to be tendered a contract in the offseason as he will be out of options in 2027. Morabito meanwhile has two options left.
- RHP Jonah Tong: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
- RHP Austin Warren: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (W)
- RHP Matt Turner: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
- LHP Brian Metoyer: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (H)
- RHP Zach Peek: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (S)
Jonah Tong has another weird outing where it was not exactly bad but it also was not exactly good. It took him 94 pitches to get through four innings but he ran a 30% whiff rate overall with some of the best whiff on his breaking balls he has shown all year. The velocity was down but the movement on his fastball returned. He also generated some of the best horizontal break on his cutter/slider and curveball he has all year. I do not know if I can really call any of this progress. At least he got good horizontal break without sacrificing fastball iVB this time, but his velocity was down and he walked four batters.
Austin Warren meanwhile showed some of the best stuff of his 2026 breakout season. His velocity and movement were up and he attacked the zone. This is a good sign for a pitcher coming off an elbow injury.
Jefferson Rojas. Photo credit: Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel
Double-A
Binghamton (45-64) 14, Portland (57-51) 6
Box Score
- 3B Jefferson Rojas: 3-for-5, HR, 2 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
- 2B Émilien Pitre: 1-for-5, R, RBI
- 1B Jacob Reimer: 2-for-6, R, 2 RBI
- DH Billy Amick: 2-for-5, 3 R, RBI, BB
- C Chris Suero: 0-for-5, R, BB
- LF Corey Collins, 1-for-3, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB
The offense exploded scoring fourteen runs across fifteen hits and six walks. Jefferson Rojas hit his first home run and has been on fire to start his Mets career. Undrafted free agent John Bay has been red hot as well, and while he did not record a hit he walked twice and scored three runs. Billy Amick and Émilien Pitre continue to hit. Jacob Reimer logged two hits. Even Kevin Parada managed to smack a double. This is the kind of game you see the box score and wish you were there for.
- RHP RJ Gordon: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (W)
- RHP Douglas Orellana: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- RHP Gabriel Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
RJ Gordon pitched a gem going seven innings allowing only one earned run. Since the start of July Gordon has a 3.38 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 40 strikeouts. He has brought his season ERA over two and a half points. All of this has lined up with a spike in his whiff rate and a decrease in his walk rate.
High-A
Brooklyn Cyclones (47-60) 4, Jersey Shore (40-67) 0
- SS Sammy Stafura: 2-for-3, R, SB
- LF Trey Snyder: 0-for-3, BB
- CF John Spikerman: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
- RF Aidan Smith: 0-for-4
- C Ronald Hernandez: 1-for-3, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB
All of the scoring came off a grand slam from Ronald Hernandez, driving in Antonio Jimenez, Sammy Stafura and John Spikerman. Stafura has continued his hot post swing change stretch logging two more hits. He might be one of the most exciting pieces brought back at the trade deadline.
- LHP Nicolas Carreno: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (W)
- RHP Calvin Ziegler: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
- LHP Gregori Louis: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
- RHP Parker Carlson: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
A few days after joining Baseball America‘s Top 30 Mets prospects Nicolas Carreno threw another strong start. Baseball America gives Carreno a 55 slider and a 50 fastball and he showed off both in this outing running a 34.3% whiff rate. Calvin Ziegler also looked strong and him bouncing back after his myriad of injuries would be huge.
Single-A
Jupiter (54-54) 3, St. Lucie (49-59) 2
- SS Elian Peña: 3-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
- CF Aiden Robbins: 0-for-4, 3 K
- LF John Smith III: 0-for-4
Even though the St Lucie Mets did not win, Elian Peña was the MVP for the team today crushing two home runs, one at 101 miles per hour and one at 100 miles per hour. He has been on fire for the last month and has brought his season OPS up to .785. The remainder of the bats were quiet outside of Eli Serrano who went 2-for-3 in his rehab assignment and catcher Ryan Tayman who went 3-for-5.
- RHP Will Watson: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
- RHP Candido Cuevas: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- LHP Conner Ware: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Will Watson made his second rehab start this time going two innings. His velocity was down a little from his last outing but his movement and spin looked good. He ran a 30% whiff rate and a 30.8% chase rate across his two innings. His fastball had some of the best arm side movement he has shown this year while his slider continues to look strong.
DSL Mets Orange
DSL Giants (33-18) 9, DSL Mets Orange (27-24) 1
- RF Jhonael Cuello: 0-for-3
Outside of one run driven in by Dayton Ormas the DSL Mets Orange offense was quiet in this game. Aiberson Blanco did have a good game logging two hits.
- RHP Yobanny Sanchez: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (L)
This was a rough game for the pitching staff who gave up nine runs on twelve hits and seven walks. Only Jhoangel Marquez managed to not give up any runs.
DSL Mets Blue
DSL Rangers (28-21) 9, DSL Mets Blue (20-31) 3
- DH Yeremy Reyes: 2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI, SB
DH Yeremy Reyes did a bit of everything for the Mets Blue offense but the remainder of the lineup was largely quiet. They also did not help their pitching staff logging as many errors as hits.
- RHP Jhony Osoria: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
The pitching staff did give up nine runs, but with five of them coming unearned only so much blame for this loss can be pinned on them. They did still give up more earned runs than the offense scored, but five errors in six innings is hard to overcome for any pitching staff.
