Steve Sica - It Feels a Little Like 2013

The "Five Aces" would only pitch together briefly in 2018

The early 2010s are widely regarded as one of the worst eras in Mets baseball. The team was coming off two straight collapses and a disastrous 2009 season. With an aging roster and minimal talent in the minor leagues, the Mets began the decade in baseball purgatory.

Then came the rebuilding process. The Mets traded stars like Carlos Beltran for Zack Wheeler and turned that miserable 2009 season into the seventh overall pick in the MLB Draft, which they used to select Matt Harvey. A couple of years later, they acquired Noah Syndergaard, and 2009 draftee Steven Matz was beginning to develop nicely in the minors. Meanwhile, a little-known prospect named Jacob deGrom was also starting to turn heads.

By 2013, while the Major League product was still non-competitive, there was reason for hope. Harvey had burst onto the scene the year before, and in 2013, he truly came into his own. “Harvey Day” was born, and for the first time in years, fans had a reason to pack Citi Field and get excited. Wheeler made his debut later that season, while Syndergaard and Matz continued to rocket up the prospect rankings. The Mets had a wealth of young pitching that seemed poised to carry them through the rest of the decade.

We don’t need to revisit what happened next or where those pitchers are today. This is about what’s happening in the Mets system now. Across all levels, the Mets are developing a new wave of pitchers who are putting up impressive numbers in the minors.

Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Jack Wenninger headline this new generation of Mets pitching. Sproat, while struggling at times in Triple-A, clearly possesses talent and potential. It's worth remembering that Triple-A wasn't kind to deGrom or Wheeler at first, either. McLean, a former two-way player turned full-time pitcher last season, has transitioned to Triple-A nicely after dominating Double-A early in the year with a sub-two ERA. In three starts with Syracuse, McLean has posted a 2.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts and a .219 opponent batting average.

In Binghamton, two more arms are making waves. Tong, who recently broke into MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, is arguably the best pitcher in the Mets system. On May 17th against Hartford, he came within one out of a perfect game before being pulled due to pitch count limitations. Tong ranks second in the Eastern League with a 2.37 ERA and leads the league with 65 strikeouts.

Right behind him in strikeouts is Wenninger, with 53. A sixth-round pick in 2023, Wenninger struggled last season with a 4.30 ERA across High-A and Double-A. This year, however, he has emerged as one of the most reliable arms in the system. Through 46 innings with Binghamton, he’s recorded a 2.70 ERA and demonstrated excellent control, issuing just 11 walks.

The Mets wealth of pitching doesn’t just stop with these four pitchers. Zach Thornton is opening eyes this season in Double-A as he threw six perfect innings for Binghamton in his last start. Nate Dohm, the Mets 3rd round pick in 2024, impressed enough in St. Lucie to earn a promotion to High-A Brooklyn earlier this month.

While these pitchers may not carry the same hype and fanfare as the "Five Aces" did over a decade ago, their potential could match—or even exceed—their predecessors. For a team that has struggled to develop homegrown pitching talent over the last ten years, it's refreshing to see so many young arms who could make their way to Queens in the near future. 

This resurgence underscores Steve Cohen’s mission when he bought the Mets: sign free agents to improve the Major League roster, but also invest in the farm system and develop talent from within.

While the future is never guaranteed, Mets fans can afford to get excited about what the team is developing in the Minors, and dare to dream about long-term success, something that has eluded the Mets for most of their existence.