The MLB regular season came to an end on Sunday, but the Arizona Fall League starts up this coming Saturday.
Eight Met prospects will head to the desert this fall to represent the Surprise Saguaros in AFL play. They'll play alongside fellow prospects from the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Cleveland Guardians. They'll also be taking the field alongside their hated division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies. It's always an unusual sight to see Mets and Phillies uniforms on the same team, but that's part of the charm of the Arizona Fall League.
The Mets will send three hitters and five pitchers each with their own intriguing backstory. Let's start with the hitters.
In years past, the Mets have either sent top prospects or prospects who were injured during the regular MiLB season. This year, the Mets have opted to send players who could use more reps after spending the majority of the summer on the IL.
Cole Mathis will be the highest-ranked prospect for the Mets in the AFL at number 13. He was the return piece from the Chicago Cubs in the deal that sent David Peterson and Tyrone Taylor to the Cubbies in late June. Due to injuries, he only played 13 games in the Mets' system. The Mets will hope to keep him healthy during his time in the AFL and give him the chance to showcase his skills. The potential is certainly there as he was a 2nd-round draft pick in 2024. It'll be Mathis' second year in a row in the AFL. He played there last year and put up an OPS of .839 in 16 games.
Boston Baro was a top-30 prospect coming into 2026. Injuries derailed the 22-year-old's process for most of this season. He was a textbook case to head to the AFL, as he only appeared in 11 games primarily in Low-A St. Lucie. The Mets were hoping to get him in High-A and potentially Double-A at some point this season, but a trip to the AFL might be just what he needs to shake off an injury-plagued season and springboard himself into a better 2027.
Bruin Agbayani, Benny Agbayani's son, will be the last Met hitter heading to the AFL. At just 19 years old, he'll be one of the youngest players in the desert this season. With only 18 MiLB games under his belt in the last two seasons, sending him to the highly competitive AFL was an unusual choice by the Mets, but it also shows confidence in his abilities. If he's anything like his father, he'll be a fan favorite in no time.
The Mets' pitching core heading to the desert is one of the most intriguing groups I've seen them send to the AFL in quite some time. You have Calvin Ziegler, a top pitching prospect before injuries grounded him to just 20 innings pitched from 2024-26. After missing all of 2025, he pitched 13 innings in 2026 and ended his MiLB season with a shutout inning in Double-A Binghamton. Ziegler was once thought of as highly as McLean, Scott, and Tong were during their time in MiLB. If he can stay healthy, he'll be one of the most watched Met prospects this month in Arizona.
The Mets' fifth-round draft pick from 2025, Peyton Prescott, will join Ziegler in Surprise. He didn't see any action in 2025 and pitched just one inning in 2026. Like Ziegler, the Mets will hope to see a larger sample size from Prescott in the next six weeks of the AFL season. The Florida State product looks to put himself back in the top-30 Met prospect rankings.
Irving Cota and Brendan Girton are two pitchers who put together excellent seasons in High-A but struggled at the Double-A level. Cota dominated in Brooklyn in 2026, pitching to a 0.73 ERA in 24 innings and five starts. He got hammered in his lone Double-A start before injuries cost him significant playing time. Girton, on the other hand, pitched to a 2.79 ERA for Brooklyn in 2025. He made 17 starts and struck out 91. He would not repeat that success for Double-A Binghamton in 2026. In 83 innings of work, he got tagged with a 6.72 ERA. The talent level in the AFL is on par with Double-A, so this will be a good opportunity for both pitchers to work on their craft and hopefully gain some confidence against some of the best hitters MiLB has to offer.
Ryan Lambert rounds out the Met roster to the AFL. In 2025, he was one of, if not the best, relievers in MiLB. In 50 innings split between High-A and Double-A, he pitched to a 1.62 ERA, striking out 81 batters and helping lead Binghamton to an Eastern League title. Fast forward to 2026, and it's just the opposite. Triple-A wasn't kind to Lambert, as he was walloped for a 7.71 ERA in 25 innings of work. The International League is notorious for grinding down pitchers, and Lambert fell victim to this. The AFL is a hitter-friendly league due to the cool, dry desert air in October, but when Lambert is on, he can shut down anyone. We'll see if he can recapture his 2025 dominance this fall.
3 comments:
Let’s hope Mathis and Baro play A LOT, to make up for some lost time, and that Agbayani gets a decent number of ABs, too.
My guess is with 5 pitchers, the workloads will be carefully doled out, to have a successful AFL without injuries. Cota and Girton have to show they can keep up with the bigger boys. And see if Lambert is real or memorex.
The fall league is always worth paying attention to, though everything has to be graded on a curve -- in both directions. I assume that after that season ends, it's off to the labs and gyms for all of those players. I think the point is to get them some work and give the lab guys and coaches a bit more information as they design off season plans and schedules. Hoping all our guys shine brightly under the Arizona sun. And having lived in the AZ desert for over 3 years I can attest that October is still plenty warm. The Phoenix area is, unlike Tucson, not particularly dry either as they import so much water. But there are few nicer places to spend the fall!
I will be thrilled if one pitcher comes out of this with an elevated prospect status
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