From the Glacier Range Riders to the New York Mets

To begin the month of June last year, right-handed pitcher Jonathan Pintaro was pitching for the Glacier Range Riders in Kalispell, Montana. This June, he’s being promoted to the major leagues with the New York Mets. And a former Mets employee played a key role in Pintaro’s signing, according to the Mets scout who signed him, Jaymie Bane.

“I always say Indy Ball is contacts and context,” Bane said. “I had some people I really trust tell me about him. Our group is so good that they trust me when to see guys live and when not to. This one felt different with the superlatives guys I’ve known forever were telling me. Michael Koltak was his pitching coach, Paul Fletcher the manager in Glacier and Bryan Hayes.”

Hayes was the director of baseball operations of the Pioneer League at the time and worked for the Mets for 11 years. He spent a large portion of his time with the Mets in amateur scouting and his last couple of years as the director of player development. He’s now with the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Multiple Mets folks told me the current director of player development, Andrew Christie, played a role in getting Pintaro into the Mets organization.

“This one was one of those times you see someone play catch and you’re 95% sure it will be really good. (I signed Chris Martin out of Indy Ball, which was very similar to why this guy is here.) When he started playing catch, I was pretty sure. By the end of the bullpen, I was in but two things: 1) I wanted to see him face hitters because that would be dumb if I didn’t, 2) I didn’t want to leave the manager/staff there short-handed,” Bane said. “I told the manager I would give him a heads up when I was “in” I went down after the second inning And told him I’m in. He had him go back out so they could announce it. Cool moment.”

On June 2, 2024, Pintaro was pitching for the Range Riders in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League when he got pulled mid-game because the Mets signed him. Pintaro, 27, posted a 6.95 ERA with the Range Riders the previous season after going undrafted out of Shorter University in Georgia and playing in the MLB Draft League with the Frederick Keys.

When the Mets signed Pintaro, he had a 4.40 ERA but had struck out 23 batters compared to only one walk in 14 1/3 innings across three starts for the Range Riders. The Mets needed innings, so Pintaro went right to work for the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones less than a week after signing. His first outing with Brooklyn was solid; he allowed only one run in four innings. After nine appearances for Brooklyn, the righty had a 2.50 ERA and had held opponents to a .603 OPS, which earned him a promotion to Double-A Binghamton.

Despite struggling in his first start on August 4 with Binghamton, the Alabama native bounced back to throw five scoreless innings in his next start and finished with a 3.18 ERA in seven Double-A starts. Pintaro finished the regular season with one start in Triple-A Syracuse, throwing four scoreless innings with six strikeouts. The 2024 rollercoaster ride wasn’t over yet. The Mets liked what they saw during the season from Pintaro and sent him to the Arizona Fall League.

In the AFL– a league loaded with Top 100 prospects– Pintaro held his own with a 3.48 ERA over 10 1/3 innings.

Pintaro began the 2025 season back in Double-A with Binghamton. He’s doing much the same as last year in the Mets organization. He has a 3.40 ERA over 11 starts and 42 1/3 innings. His 33.3 K% is third in the Eastern League (Jonah Tong leading at 41%), and he’s given up the fewest fly balls at 23.5%. To start the minor league week of action, Pintaro was promoted to Triple-A and was scheduled to start for Syracuse on Wednesday.

“Our player development staff has been unbelievable in how they can take a guy and enhance his repertoire. None of these guys are plug and play–Pintaro was pretty close to that, but they refined his changeup and made him better,” Bane said.

Pintaro uses a wide variety of pitches and a combination of a unique angle and delivery that hides the ball. His repertoire includes a four-seamer, sinker, sweeper, changeup, and cutter, his best pitch. Coming into the 2025 season, I had Pintaro ranked as the Mets’ No. 22 prospect in a system becoming known for producing intriguing pitching prospects. Pintaro has been primarily a starter in his career, though he also has experience as a bulk reliever.

“Basically, the angle he can create naturally to go along with the pure stuff he has makes him unique. From what I was told and researched, he’s always had the ability, but this was different,” Bane said. “It’s a unique angle that he can repeat with stuff. The cutter from that angle is unique, too. He throws it around the plate and has developed a change that’s been really good, too.”