Mets' Brandon Sproat has waited his turn and now he gets his shot with big-league club
Mets prospect Brandon Sproat attends a game against the Phillies at Citi Field on Sep. 20, 2024 in Queens. Credit: Jim McIsaac
CINCINNATI — Brandon Sproat had to wait.
He had to wait for the work he put in to bear fruit, which it didn’t earlier this season with Triple-A Syracuse. He had to wait when Nolan McLean was called up instead of him when the Mets needed a starter last month. And he had to wait again when they next selected Jonah Tong, who had pitched in only two games for Triple-A Syracuse. And the days ticked on.
“I’m pretty sure he was frustrated,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday. But on Saturday, when an emotional Sproat made it to Great American Ball Park in preparation for his major-league debut Sunday, there was no indication of that.
“I’m just being where my feet are,” Sproat said. “I stood on my faith, and whenever it was God’s time for me to be called up, it was going to happen — whether it was this year, next year. I didn’t know.”
Sproat, prominent mustache gone and wearing No. 40, will attempt to join the (very young) three-headed hydra the Mets are hoping can save their pitching situation. He has a fastball that can hit triple digits and a plus changeup along with a slider, sweeper and curve. He was 8-6 with Syracuse this year, pitching to a 4.24 ERA, but went 5-1 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 games since June 28.
All three prospects will take the hill in three straight games (a stretch that began with Tong on Saturday) in an attempt to jailbreak a rotation missing . . . well . . . pitchers.
Frankie Montas, Griffin Canning, Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill are out of the equation for various reasons. David Peterson no longer looks untouchable, Clay Holmes surpassed his career innings high long ago and Sean Manaea repeatedly has hit a wall only a few innings into every start since his return from the injured list.
With little other recourse, president of baseball operations David Stearns had to fast-track his prospects smack dab in the middle of a stretch run that nearly ran away from them.
Sproat found out about his call-up Thursday when Syracuse manager Dick Scott told him to do his touch-and-feel drills a day early.
“I’m confused [and] I’m like, ‘Why?’ ” Sproat said. “ ‘Because you’re going to Cincinnati. You’re starting Sunday.’ I held it together, I told them thank you, and then went and called Dad, my mom, and broke down. We sat there and cried for some time together.”
Sproat already has tapped McLean and Tong for tips including: “What time are we supposed to throw?” and “Where is the weight room?”
His parents, sisters, grandmothers, uncle and aunt will be in attendance Sunday along with one of his aunt’s two sons (the other, who is 12, doesn’t want to ruin his run at his second straight perfect school attendance record, Sproat said, laughing.)
“I talked to [Brandon] Nimmo earlier and he told me one thing — whether it’s before your outing, during your outing, I want you to take 15 seconds and soak it all in,” Sproat said. “So I’m definitely going to go out there tomorrow, look around, find my family in the stands and soak it all in.”
In other words: He should take a beat, slow it down and wait . . . until it’s time for the wait to finally be over.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
