Another former Gator is headed to the big leagues

A second former Florida Gator is headed to the big leagues. According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the New York Mets are calling up right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat. The 24-year-old is set to make his MLB debut on the road in Cincinnati on Sunday against the Reds with wild-card implications on the line for both teams.

Sproat has absolutely dominated for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets this season. He is 8-6, with a 4.24 ERA. Over the course of 121 innings, Sproat has 113 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.24.

Through the month of July, Sproat was 2-0 with an impressive 0.67 ERA. Through five starts that month, he gave up just two earned runs on 14 hits, struck out 33, and opposing batters hit just .152 against him. He had a WHIP of 0.81 in July. Of his five starts in July, four were shutout performances.

Last month, Sproat struck out 31 over the course of 26 innings and threw seven shutout innings on August 30 against the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders.

On Sunday Carlos Mendoza said he was notified of Brandon Sproat impressing on Saturday with nine strikeouts and that was the day the Mets said Sproat was putting them on notice even more.

“It was good to see him throw the ball the way he did yesterday,” said Mendoza on Sunday. “I think it’s one of those where it’s like, ‘alright, here I am, too.’ It’s good to see those guys put themselves in a position where ‘hey, if there’s a need, I’m here,’ and I think that was a message from Sproat to all of us here yesterday.”

Sproat, ranked as the Mets’ No. 5 prospect, joins two other young pitchers who recently got called up by the organization in Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong. With the three young players now representing three of the Mets’ starting pitchers, it proves the depth of the Mets’ farm system and the trust that the Mets have in their pitching development program.

The Pensacola native was drafted by the Mets in the second round (pick No. 56 overall) of the 2023 MLB draft. He now finds himself two years later in a position to replace Kodai Senga in the Mets’ rotation, as the Mets have discussed sending Senga to Triple-A after his recent struggles.

If everything continues to go as planned and Sproat does officially get put on the roster by the Mets and in the lineup on Sunday, he will be the second former Gator to make a big league debut in 2025, joining Jac Caglianone who debuted earlier this season for the Kansas City Royals.