The minor league season is over, and what an incredibly successful one it was for the Mets. Not only did the Brooklyn Cyclones and Binghamton Rumble Ponies win league championships, but the player development throughout the Mets organization was some of the best the franchise has ever seen.
The Mets are stacked with prospects, both pitching and hitting.
Let’s take a look at which prospects led the organization in all the important statistical categories and what the outlook is for them heading into 2026 and beyond. For the rate stats, it’ll be qualified players. For the pitching stats, there are so few qualified arms that we’ll look at pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched, a group of 14. We’re also only going to look at Single-A and above here, excluding the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League. While many of the players are “qualified,” so many fewer games are needed to qualify in those leagues.
Hitting
A.J. Ewing — 153 H, .315 BA, .401 OBP, 70 SB
After an up-and-down 2024, A.J. Ewing broke out in a big way in 2025. He started the season at Single-A, hit .400, got promoted to High-A, weathered the harsh environment of being a left-handed hitter in Brooklyn, and received a second promotion to Double-A. His bat took a huge leap forward, and his glove wasn’t half bad in center field as well.
Most impressively, though, was his improvement on the basepaths. After stealing 13 bases in 90 games in 2024, Ewing swiped 70 in 124 games in 2025. It was by far the most of anyone in the Mets organization, and the fifth most of anyone in minor league baseball. Of the 12 players to swipe at least 60, Ewing was one of three to do so while also hitting over .300.
Ewing propelled himself from a borderline top-30 organizational prospect to a no-doubt top-10, and if he starts his 2026 just as well, he has a good chance to crack MLB top-100 lists.
Jacob Reimer — .491 SLG, .870 OPS, 157 wRC+
Jacob Reimer entered 2025 as almost a bit of an afterthought. He broke out in 2023 and established himself as one of the organization’s top infield prospects, but then played just 25 games in 2024 due to injury. It was a lost season for Reimer, and other prospects grabbed more of the headlines by the time 2025 came around.
Reimer took the headlines back. He started the year with High-A Brooklyn and was a huge part of the middle of their lineup. He was promoted to Double-A after 61 games, and basically repeated his performance at Binghamton for another 61 games. He has plus power that he maximizes by lifting and pulling the ball, and he makes really good swing decisions to boot.
The Mets will likely make a slew of changes to their lineup in the offseason, particularly on the infield. One possible path is moving on from Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, and Luisangel Acuña, giving Brett Baty the everyday third base job, and having the right-hand-hitting Reimer in Triple-A if Baty falters.
Ryan Clifford — 29 HR, 93 RBI, 85 BB, .233 ISO
Ryan Clifford is the prototypical three true outcomes hitter. He hits for a ton of power, draws a ton of walks, and of course, strikes out way, way too much. He’s never going to hit for a high batting average, but if he maximizes his potential, he will get on base and slug. His 29 home runs were 12 more than any other Mets minor leaguer, and sixth among all minor league baseball players. Of the five players above him, four were in their age-24 season or older. Clifford was in his age-21 season.
Likely a first baseman at the big league level, there’s a real scenario where Clifford gets the bulk of the playing time at first base for the Mets in 2026. Of course, that would only happen if Pete Alonso and the Mets part ways, but it’s certainly possible. He’d also need a platoon partner against left-handed pitching as Clifford’s OPS is over 200 points lower vs. southpaws, so the Mets would need to bring in a righty first baseman (Wilmer Flores reunion?).
Or, the Mets just re-sign Alonso, and Clifford becomes a potential DH option when needed.
Jett Williams — 91 R, 58 XBH
The highest-profile Mets hitting prospect for several years, Jett Williams, had a very positive 2025 season. Similar to Reimer, Williams lost most of his 2024 season due to injury, playing just 33 games, but was back in full force in 2025. He didn’t light the world on fire, but did exactly what people expected him to do.
He has an outstanding approach, which allows him to get on base a ton, setting the table for the big boppers behind him. And even then, he out-bopped everyone else when it comes to extra-base hits. He’s not ever going to lead his team in home runs, but he did smack a very respectable 17 in 2025, an impressive mark for someone standing just 5-foot-7. He hit a ton of doubles and triples, too, and stole 34 bases on top of that.
There’s a very clear path for Williams to see significant playing time in the big leagues in 2026. Jeff McNeil, if he is still on the team, will be a free agent at the end of the season. Williams can start the year in Triple-A (he needs to), and then eventually work his way into the lineup in place of McNeil at second base. There’s a natural platoon formed there with McNeil being a lefty and Williams being a righty, and both players can play the outfield as well. Then, in 2027, Williams takes the full-time second base job.
Pitching
Jonah Tong — 1.43 ERA, 1.68 FIP, 0.92 WHIP, 2.16 xFIP, 179 K, 40.5 K%, 29.9 K-BB%, .148 BAA
Nolan McLean was the breakout Mets pitching prospect of 2025 after bursting onto the scene in the big leagues and instantly establishing himself as the team’s ace. Make no mistake, though, Jonah Tong was the best Mets pitcher in the minor leagues (and likely best pitcher in general among all 30 organizations).
There might be an instinct to brush this off because of Tong’s uneven performance in the big leagues over his five starts to finish the year, but don’t do that. You don’t put up a 1.43 ERA by accident. You don’t strike out 179 batters by accident. You don’t lead the best pitching system in all of minor league baseball in ~almost~ every statistical category by accident.
He’s young, and he has things to work on. He needs to bring down the walks a bit, and he needs to get more comfortable with his curveball and slider. But the stuff is absurd, and his future looks bright.
Joander Suarez — 4.5 BB%
Yes, the only thing Tong doesn’t lead in is walk percentage. Suarez isn’t a highly regarded prospect, nor does he have outstanding stuff, but he’s slowly been making his way through the levels of the Mets organization since 2018 and turned in his best season yet in 2025. He posted a 3.76 ERA on the season, and it was 3.05 at Double-A, where he spent the majority of his season; he just got rocked in a few games at Triple-A. He strikes out enough guys, 93 in 93 and 1/3 innings, and as shown by his inclusion on this list, he doesn’t walk people.
For all the successes of the Mets organization in developing pitching, there is a tendency among some of their arms to walk too many batters. Tong, McLean, and Brandon Sproat all ran walk rates above 10% this season, and in total, eight of the 14 qualified pitchers did so. Suarez, all the way down at 4.5%, was essentially an outlier. Again, you’re not going to find him high on any prospect lists, but there’s definitely something interesting here. He should get a chance to conquer Triple-A next season, and if he does, he could be an option for the Mets either as a spot starter or long reliever.
