Ryan Clifford. Photo Credit: James Farrance

The 2026 Syracuse Mets finished with an 81-68 record, good for a tie with Charlotte for second in the International League East overall and fourth in the International League as a whole.

It was a tale of two halves for the Syracuse Mets. In the first half of the season, they went 38-37, but improved in the second half, going 43-31. Syracuse would go on to barely miss out on the playoffs, coming down to the last day of the season where they were eventually eliminated by the Rochester Red Wings.

Part of the reason that Syracuse excelled in the second half was a large influx of talent, both internally and externally. Between the promotion of pitching prospect Jonathan Santucci, and deadline trades that brought in other prospects like Billy Amick, Émilien Pitre, and Zach Franklin, the team looked very different in the second half of the year.

The 2026 Syracuse Mets were a very interesting roster to look at. For the most part, many of the large contributors were a core of more veteran players with major-league experience. Specifically, players like MJ Melendez, Cristian Pache, and Vidal Bruján. These players are necessary to fill roster spots, potentially fill in for major league injuries (like we saw with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto), and ultimately help win games. However, the most important aspect is the continued development and final test for prospects before they play for the New York Mets.

For the latter point, we saw Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns be very aggressive with prospects in 2026, in regards to the Syracuse Mets. Carson Benge, Mets rookie phenom, played 24 games at Syracuse in 2025, and bypassed continued time in 2026 to jump directly to the Majors. His counterpart, A.J. Ewing, played only 12 games this year in Syracuse before getting called up to the Mets. Zac Thornton put himself on the Mets radar by pitching well at Binghamton (Double-A), then was called up in the latter half of the year after throwing well enough at Syracuse. These types of development stories are critical for sustained success at the major league level.

On the mound, it was a weird year for some of the Mets’ top prospect arms. Jonah Tong took a big step back from his dominant 2025 and did not pitch well for most of 2026, however he finished strong and eventually got called up to the majors. Jack Wenninger experienced a very similar story, he was not able to follow up on a great 2025 in Binghamton. However, Syracuse also saw successful development from Santucci and a potential bullpen arm in Nate Lavender. As a team, Syracuse ranked 10th in ERA, ninth in strikeouts, and 10th in WHIP out of 20 International League teams.

At the plate, much of the Mets offense was carried by Melendez, Ronny Mauricio, and outfield prospect Nick Morabito. Fellow prospect Ryan Clifford experienced a very rough 2026, posting career lows in batting average, on base percentage, slugging, and OPS before eventually being put on the development list. He did play much better after coming back. Syracuse also got brief introductions to Amick, Pitre, and No. 1 prospect Jefferson Rojas at the end of the season, providing a well needed boost to the offense.

As a team, Syracuse ranked 14th in batting average, 15th in on-base percentage, eighth in slugging, 10th in OPS, and seventh in home runs out of 20 International League teams.

Jefferson Rojas. Photo Credit: Syracuse Mets

Coaching Staff

  • Manager – Dick Scott
  • Pitching Coach – A.J. Sager
  • Assistant Pitching Coach – Troy Miller
  • Hitting Coach – Nate Irving
  • Bench Coach/Assistant Hitting Coach – John Nogowski
  • Head Athletic Trainer – Austin Dayton
  • Assistant Athletic Trainer – Joshua Jackson
  • Strength and Conditioning Coach – Drew Skrocki
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach – Max Aronwold
  • Baseball Technology and Video Associate – Pedro John

MMO Top Prospects (Min. 30 GP/30 IP)

  • 3 – RHP Jonah Tong
  • 5 – LHP Jonathan Santucci
  • 7 – LHP Zac Thornton
  • 8 – RHP Jack Wenninger
  • 13 – 1B/COF Ryan Clifford
  • 14 – OF Nick Morabito
  • 21 – LHP Nate Lavender
  • 32 – RHP Jonathan Pintaro
  • 33 – RHP Dylan Ross
  • 50 – RHP Ben Simon

Team Batting Leaders

  • Games: Ryan Clifford – 115
  • AB: Nick Morabito – 425
  • Runs: Nick Morabito – 73
  • Hits: Nick Morabito – 108
  • 2B: MJ Melendez – 20
  • 3B:  Cristian Pache – 4
  • HR: MJ Melendez – 20
  • RBI:  Ronny Mauricio – 57
  • BB: Nick Morabito – 27
  • SO: Ryan Clifford – 174
  • SB: Nick Morabito – 42
  • CS: Jihwan Bae/MJ Melendez – 6
  • BA (Qualified): Nick Morabito – .254
  • OBP (Qualified): Nick Morabito – .355
  • SLG (Qualified): Nick Morabito – .388
  • OPS (Qualified): Nick Morabito – .743

Note: Syracuse had two qualified hitters: Ryan Clifford and Nick Morabito.

Team Pitching Leaders

  • W: Brian Metoyer/Ben Simon/Jonah Tong/Jack Wenninger – 5
  • L: Jack Wenninger – 8
  • ERA (min. 60 IP): Xzavion Curry – 3.36
  • G: Dylan Ross – 45
  • GS: Jonah Tong – 23
  • SV: Dylan Ross/Anderson Severino – 5
  • IP: Jack Wenninger – 115
  • HR (allowed): Jonah Tong – 22
  • BB: Jack Wenninger – 68
  • SO: Jonah Tong – 126
  • WHIP (min. 60 IP): Xzavion Curry – 1.19
  • AVG (min. 30 IP): Tobias Myers – .180

2027 should be a very exciting year for Syracuse. Several of the Mets top prospects like Jefferson Rojas, Mitch Voit, Jonathan Santucci, Jack Wenninger, and Émilien Pitre will all likely begin with the team. Other prospects like Nick Morabito and Jonah Tong will be competing for a majoraleague roster spot. These players all can play roles in the near future for the New York Mets, and hope to turn it around from the disappointing year of 2026.