Luke Gabrysh couldn’t watch Spider-Man.

Right as his ticketed August 3 showing was about to begin, Gabrysh learned he had been traded to the Mets as part of the Brooks Raley deal.

Spider-Man was suddenly on hold, and just like Peter Parker/Tom Holland at the end of “No Way Home,” his life was immediately turned upside down.

The 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher grew up in Philly Country, went to college in the heart of Philadelphia, and was even selected by his childhood team in the 15th round of the 2024 draft.

Luke Gabrysh via MiLB.com.

And yet, despite his roots, Gabrysh was forced to trade in cheesesteaks for Nathan’s Hot Dogs down at Coney Island, a result of his assignment to the Mets’ High-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones.

His first start with the Cyclones came in a familiar setting: his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Gabrysh estimated 50-plus family and friends attended the game, in which he allowed three runs over four innings.

Even weirder, his second start, and first home outing, in a Cyclones uniform, on August 14, came against his old team. Gabrysh recognized the strangeness of the moment.

“It was a little strange. It was nice because I knew their approach and their mindset going into it. So, I definitely had an advantage there. It felt like a backfield scrimmage with a lot more fans than we get at a backfield scrimmage, but it was a lot of fun.”

Despite the familiarity, Gabrysh dominated against his old teammates, permitting just a single over four innings. His heater, which ran up to 96 mph, and a series of off-speed pitches produced six strikeouts.

His high-caliber strikeout ability is nothing new. At the time of his promotion to the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Gabrysh’s 30.8% strikeout percentage led the South Atlantic League.

As of this writing, Gabrysh has made three starts for the Ponies and has played a role in the club’s late-season postseason push. His best start for the Ponies was his most recent on September 4, when he struck out five in five scoreless innings.

His success stems from his five-pitch mix and an advanced movement palette.

While his current placement in Double-A is miles away from playing in the majors at Citi Field (literally), any arsenal that employs the Nolan McLean starter pack is a strong advantage for any minor-league arm working his way up the minor-league ladder.

At any point, any of Gabrysh’s five pitches (sinker, four-seam, gyro slider/cutter, sweeper, and change-up) travel the 60 feet, six inches to home plate. By using any pitch at any time, batters resist the opportunity to wait on just one pitch.

Despite employing an arsenal suggesting severe supination activity, Gabrysh confirmed that a four-seam fastball plays an important part of his repertoire.

[I’ve been trying to] elevate four-seamers. That’s been something that’s opened up the ability to get a lot more strikeouts and just to change eye levels. The Phillies really pushed on that and the Mets seem to be invested in that as well. In addition to being an east to west guy, [they want me to continue] being able to expand at the top of the zone. [We’re trying to] refine it and get a little more vert, which has been trending in the right direction.

His only major arsenal change in professional ball came at the Phillies’ recommendation: a new cutter. Rather than making major refactoring, Gabrysh has been more focused on refining shapes and executing to locations.

It didn’t take much for Gabrysh to listen to the advice of the Phillies’ development staff. After all, it was his childhood team he grew up obsessing about.

His fandom ran so deep that Gabrysh even attended the 2022 “Bedlam in Bank” game. Ironically, the ball from Bryce Harper‘s go-ahead eighth-inning home run during Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS landed in his section. It was a dream come true for the then-19-year-old.

That was insane. People didn’t leave their feet for nine innings. When that happened, everyone was screaming. It was a one-of-one experience at a baseball game. It landed on a seat on the same row, two or three seats to my right. So, yeah, it was like right there.

When pressed about his favorite moment as a Phillies fan that involved the Mets, Gabrysh was noncommittal.

Smart answer, Luke.

After all, Spider-Man is a Mets fan.