Mets Prospects Who Could Make An Appearance in MLB in 2023

With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in just a few weeks, the hype machine for the 2023 MLB season is well underway. The New York Mets will enter the season with plenty of enthusiasm, one year removed from a 101-win season and after an offseason that saw the team make several impactful signings.

The Mets are also one of the oldest teams in the league, with well-established veteran players at nearly every position on the field. There are a few rookies who figure to make an impact, namely Francisco Álvarez, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos, but the path to playing time for other young players is not as clear.

Still, there are a few names for fans to look out for as prospects who could potentially crack the major league roster at some point during the 2023 season. From spot starters to bullpen depth to bench bats, these prospects may be one injury to an established veteran player away from getting their chance to contribute to the Mets’ championship aspirations.

José Butto

This list begins with perhaps the most pro-ready starting pitcher prospect in the Mets organization. José Butto had a cup of coffee with the Mets in 2022, making a spot start in late August and surrendering seven runs on nine hits in four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. His overall numbers in the minors looked far better, posting a 3.56 ERA in 28 appearances (25 starts) and racking up 138 strikeouts in 129 innings.

Butto has made his name by throwing a lot of strikes and limiting walks, although he has never really posted high strikeout totals. His best pitch is a slow changeup, and his pitch mix also includes a fastball that sits in the low to mid-90s and a curveball that he throws sparingly.

The Mets’ starting rotation is pretty locked in as of now, with David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and Joey Lucchesi providing depth, but injuries are bound to happen and Butto will be waiting in the wings in case a rotation spot needs filling. Entering his age-25 season, he will serve as the de facto ace of the Syracuse Mets’ rotation until his number is called for a major league roster spot, however temporary that spot might be.

Bryce Montes de Oca

Another player who got his first shot at major league action in 2022, Bryce Montes de Oca is an electric bullpen arm who has made waves during his brief time in the Mets organization. Montes de Oca was drafted by the Mets in the ninth round of the 2018 draft, but he did not make his professional debut until 2021 due to rehabbing Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 season.

Since then, he has posted impressively high strikeout numbers and ultimately made three late-season appearances for the Mets last season, giving up four runs on seven hits across 3 1/3 innings. During the minor league season with Binghamton and Syracuse, he posted a 3.86 ERA across 44 appearances with a whopping 80 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings.

Montes de Oca can run his fastball up to 102 mph, and he occasionally mixes in a hard sinker and a hard slider. While the strikeout numbers are gaudy, he also issues a lot of free passes (38 walks in those 51 1/3 innings last season), so there is still a lot of development to be done before he truly harnesses his outstanding pitch arsenal.

Like with last year, Montes de Oca will be a candidate for depth in a major league bullpen that has experienced immense turnover this offseason. The Mets have essentially signed an entirely new staff of relievers for the 2023 season and they may not be done with addressing that part of the roster, but a team can never plan too much for injuries and Montes de Oca will likely have to make a few appearances over the course of the year.

Ronny Mauricio

The youngest player by far on this list and thus the one with the longest shot to make the majors in 2023, Ronny Mauricio is just as enigmatic as ever. The 21-year-old slugger has shown flashes of absolute brilliance since signing with the Mets as an international free agent in 2017, but with those highs have also come some pretty severe lows.

Mauricio’s first two years of professional ball were not all that impressive, but he followed that up with a strong 2021 season (20 HR, .745 OPS) and an even stronger 2022 season (26 HR, .767 OPS). He then went to the Dominican Summer League and won the MVP award for the regular season, helping his team reach the postseason yet struggling mightily once they were there.

Mauricio has some pretty obvious barriers to a major league debut in 2023, the most pressing of which is his inability to draw walks. Mauricio strikes out a ton and rarely gets on base via any means other than a hit, an approach that rarely translates to success in the majors. Moreover, Mauricio’s primary position of shortstop is blocked at the major league level by Francisco Lindor, and his defensive skills are not quite up to snuff such that a move to another position would be seamless.

Mauricio will start the 2023 season with Syracuse, and he figures to stay there for the entire year. The only real path to a major league debut this year would be some combination of injuries and prodigious play on the part of Mauricio, and even then the organization might look elsewhere in order to ensure that the young top prospect gets all the time he needs to continue his development.

Eric Orze

The fifth-round selection by the Mets in the 2020 draft, Eric Orze has made impressive strides toward being a legitimate bullpen arm in his two professional seasons. He posted a 3.08 ERA in 2021, making 34 appearances while racking up 67 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings and making it all the way to Syracuse. He was less effective in 2022 with a 4.83 ERA across 50 1/3 innings, but his strikeout rate and walk rate remained consistent.

Orze has a devastating splitter that helps him get the majority of his strikeouts, and he mixes in a mid-90s fastball and an occasional slider. He is a reliever through and through, with more of a two-pitch repertoire that still works to outstanding effect.

With experience in parts of two seasons already at Triple-A, Orze will use his third year at Syracuse to try to capture the torrid form he showed in 2021. If he is able to do so, he could certainly factor into the Mets’ bullpen plans, both in the immediate and distant future.

Grant Hartwig

Few players can claim to have had an even remotely similar path to a potential major league roster spot as Grant Hartwig. Signing with the Mets as an undrafted free agent in 2021, Hartwig began the 2022 season with St. Lucie but proceeded to work his way through four levels in the organization before finishing the year with Syracuse.

Along the way, Hartwig posted an absurdly low 1.75 ERA and an impressive 1.094 WHIP in 56 2/3 innings, striking out 83 batters and recording 13 saves. His pitch mix is predicated more on deception than overpowering stuff, combining his sinking fastball with a sweeping slider and an occasional changeup to lefties to keep hitters off balance at the plate.

Hartwig stumbled a bit in the Arizona Fall League (10.00 ERA in seven appearances), and it remains to be seen if his pitching style will have any amount of success at fooling major league hitters. Still, Hartwig is entering his age-25 season with a chance at making a few relief appearances in the majors in 2023 despite being passed over by every team in the draft just two years ago.

Dedniel Núñez

It has been a long time coming for Dedniel Núñez, but it appears that he has an outside shot at finally making his major league debut in 2023. Núñez signed with the Mets all the way back in 2016 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic, and the 26-year-old has endured being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and being returned to the Mets after that rehab period.

Núñez entered the 2022 season with a lot to prove after two full seasons out of action, and he responded with a remarkable campaign, making 26 relief appearances and posting a 3.00 ERA while striking out 49 batters in just 33 innings. Núñez was a starter through the early part of his minor league career, but his overpowering fastball that flirts with 100 mph seems to be a much better fit in the bullpen.

The Mets could try to stretch Núñez out as a starter in the 2023 season, but his destiny appears to be as a relief arm, either as a back-end option or as a long reliever given his previous experience starting games. Regardless, Núñez is perhaps one more injury-free year away from pushing for major league action.

Josh Walker

Josh Walker was a 37^th-round pick by the Mets in the 2017 draft, but his longevity in the organization has not translated to experience. He has pitched in every minor league season since 2017 yet has been severely limited by injuries, making more than 14 appearances in just one of those seasons.

Walker’s best year was undoubtedly his 2021 season, during which he posted a 3.73 ERA across 115 2/3 innings and managed to make 20 starts. Unfortunately, injuries again forced him to take a step back in 2022 (4.91 ERA in 13 appearances, only two starts), and it took an impressive showing in the Arizona Fall League (2.89 ERA in eight appearances) to salvage his season.

Walker stands at 6-foot-6 and makes for an imposing figure on the mound, but he tends to rely more on offspeed pitches to compensate for a low 90s fastball. It is hard to know at this stage if the Mets will attempt to stretch Walker back out into a starter as he was in 2021 or keep him as a reliever as he was in 2022, as he has had at least some success in both roles.

Walker is not the first name the Mets will look to when in need of a spot starter or bullpen help. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old will start the year in Syracuse and could very well find himself on the major league roster for an appearance or two if enough things break his way.