The Binghamton Rumble Ponies announced that Mets pitching prospect Dominic Hamel was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for September. The honor comes after finishing the season with the Double-A club in the championship series, although they fell short of the title.

Steven Wojtowicz-MMO

Hamel split his time in 2023 between St. Lucie and Binghamton, finishing the season with the Rumble Ponies with a respectable 8-6 record and 3.85 ERA. He allowed 108 hits, 49 walks, 12 home runs and punched out 160 hitters in 124 innings of work. In the Eastern League, he finished second in strikeouts, fifth in ERA and fifth in innings pitched.

The right-handed hurler made a name for himself with the Rumble Ponies in September. In three games, he went 1-0, allowing five hits, zero runs, five walks and 24 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched. His dazzling performance of the month came on September 21, a Division Series game against the Somerset Patriots. Hamel pitched a career high seven and two thirds innings of shut out ball, giving up three hits and striking out eleven.

The Mets also announced today that right-handed pitcher Douglas Orellana has been named Florida State League Pitcher of the Month for September. Orellana went 4-4 for the St. Lucie Mets in 2023, finishing the season with a 4.53 ERA in 23 games, 18 of them started. However, in September, he went 1-0 in 10 ⅔ innings, allowing two runs, one earned, five hits and two walks out. Most impressively, he struck out 16 batters in that stretch.

While Hamel most likely won’t be a contender for a role in the Mets’ 2024 rotation out of the gate, he should start the season in Syracuse and could find himself in Queens sooner rather than later if he continues to perform.