2025 Mets Top 30 Prospects Preview

Before I get to my list of the Mets’ Top 30 Prospects prior to the 2025 season, I want to talk about the players who didn’t make the list. In the past, I’ve made this crazy, long list of sometimes 50 prospects and even did 75 last year because I have some issues, haha. This year, I put together a long list of prospects who came to mind when thinking about making the top 30, then broke it down to the Top 30 and players simply not in that group.

Former High Picks 

• INF Colin Houck – Only two years removed from being the Mets’ first-round pick, yet Houck fell off the list after striking out a whopping 36% of the time last year and posting an 81 wRC+ with the Low-A St. Lucie Mets.
• C Kevin Parada – A first-rounder of the Mets the year before Houck, Parada struck out 34% of the time last year. Opponents have stolen 211 bases against him in 143 games during the previous two years.
• RHP Dom Hamel – The former third-rounder struggled enough (6.79 ERA in Triple-A) last season that he was left unprotected for the Rule 5 Draft and was not selected by any team.
• RHP Calvin Ziegler – The 2021 second-round pick simply hasn’t stayed on the field. Ziegler has thrown only seven innings over the last two seasons and is coming off Tommy John surgery last April.

Recent Draft Picks 

• 1B Corey Collins – The 2024 sixth-rounder led the NCAA with his .574 on-base percentage last season, and he also homered 20 times for Georgia.
• RHP Ryan Lambert – The Mets’ seventh round pick from last year hits triple-digits with his fastball.
• RHP Ethan Lanthier – 12th-rounder last year, but has been up to 99 mph with his fastball and gets above-average spin on his slider.

International Free Agents 

• OF Simón Juan – The 19-year-old would be in my Top 30 most years, but I feel like the Mets system is pretty strong in the Top 30 right now and added a handful of guys in the 2024 draft who pushed Juan just out of the 30. He could be anywhere from the low 20s to the low 30s, as there isn’t a big difference in the outlooks for those players. Juan hit .273/.337/.459 with seven home runs in 50 games for the FCL in 2024 as he repeated the level. Juan was given a $1.9 million bonus in 2022.
• OF Willy Fañas – Also signed in 2022, his bonus was $1.5 million. The 21-year-old quickly ripped through the FCL (.943 OPS in 11 games) before getting promoted to Low-A St. Lucie. The outfielder struggled there with just a .535 OPS in 58 games.
• OF Alex Ramírez – Another outfielder the Mets signed during the IFA period, but Ramírez is in a much different stage of his career. Just a couple of years ago, he was a Top 100 prospect in the sport, and then this offseason, he was released by the Mets–though he later re-signed. The 22-year-old is coming off a brutal 2024 season with Double-A Binghamton in which he hit just .210/.291/.299 with 123 strikeouts in 123 games. He did steal a career-high 40 bases last season.

Lefties 

• LHP Felipe De La Cruz – Lefties throwing in the mid-90s still don’t grow on trees, and De La Cruz’s 0.17 HR/9 ranked third among Mets minor league pitchers with at least 50 innings last season. He was one of only 11 Mets minor league pitchers to hit the 100 innings plateau last year and the only lefty not named Joey Lucchesi to do so.
• LHP Franklin Gomez – The young lefty made 16 starts for full season Low-A St. Lucie in 2024 while turning only 19 years old in July. Gomez gets a fair amount of groundballs (48% in 2024) thanks to a fastball/changeup combo with a good induced vertical break.
• LHP Zach Thornton – Like Gomez, Thornton is not a hard thrower, but gets good induced vertical break on his fastball. Command is the calling card for Thornton, and he walked only 6.1% in his first pro season last year.
• LHP Ryan Ammons – The Mets acquired Ammons from the Red Sox in a trade for Rule 5 pick Justin Slaten. The 23-year-old started his Mets career (and pro career) by producing a 2.88 ERa in 18 relief appearances for St. Lucie before a promotion to High-A Brooklyn. He was even better there, with a 1.33 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and a 0.93 WHIP across 20 1/3 innings.

Walks Are Good

• UTIL Yonatan Henriquez – The 20-year-old had a huge 22.5% walk rate in 40 games for the FCL Mets, though he struggled to the tune of a .447 OPS in 26 games with St. Lucie. He played second base, third base, shortstop, left field, right field and center field last year.
• 2B Nick Roselli – Like Henriquez, Roselli is a New York native who walks a ton. The 21-year-old had a .492 OBP at Binghamton University last year before the Mets drafted him in the 11th round. He posted a .403 OBP in 18 games with the St. Lucie Mets to begin his pro career.

Older Hitters

• Luke Ritter – The 28-year-old had 53 home runs and 159 RBIs in 141 games between Double-A and Triple-A over the previous two years. During that time, he has played first base, second base, third base, shortstop and left field.
• JT Schwartz – The 25-year-old entered the 2023 season, having played first base exclusively in the minors. In 2023, he played 14 games in left field; last season, he played seven games at third base. He’s a career .271/.363/.399 hitter in the minor leagues and posted a .408 OBP in Double-A last year before his promotion to Triple-A.
• Wyatt Young – The Hawaii native has played a whopping 290 games in Double-A and another 77 in Triple-A over three different seasons. He’s a solid defender up the middle that has also played third base. The 25-year-old lacks power with a career .263/.358/.349 slash line in the minors.
• Nick Lorusso – The 24-year-old got a small taste of Double-A (eight games) last year after hitting .267/.365/.470 with 11 home runs in 70 games for High-A. He played 42 games at first base and 24 games at third base.

Righties 

• RHP Joander Suarez – The 24-year-old finished second among Mets minor leaguers with 128 innings pitched last year in 23 games for Double-A and two in Triple-A. His 5.7% walk rate was the third lowest among Mets minor leaguers with at least 50 innings pitched.
• RHP Luis Moreno – The 25-year-old has pitched at least 100 innings in each of the last three seasons. His highlight of the 2024 season came in Winter Ball when he won Rookie of the Year after posting a 1.83 ERA in 39 1/3 innings.
• RHP Douglas Orellana – The 22-year-old struck out 49 hitters in 38 2/3 innings last season while splitting time between starting and relieving for High-A Brooklyn.

Sweet, Sweet Velo

• RHP Wilson Lopez – One of the hardest throwers in the Mets system, hit 100.5 mph last year for the St. Lucie Mets. On the flip side, he walked 27 batters in 22 2/3 innings.
• RHP Wellington Aracena – The 20-year-old topped out at 100.4 mph last year. Again, walks were a significant issue, with 16 in 13 1/3 innings for St. Lucie. He also struck out 20 hitters during that span.
• RHP Ernesto Mercedes – Another hard thrower who pitched for St. Lucie last year. He struck out 89 batters with a fastball up to 99 mph but also walked 60 in his 65 innings.
• RHP Juan Arnaud – The reliever was up to 99 mph this year with his fastball. Walks were an issue, though not as much as the folks above, with 31 in 40 innings and 49 strikeouts in that span.

Can They Stay Healthy? 

• RHP Raimon Gomez – The hard-throwing right-hander pitched seven innings in 2023 before undergoing Tommy John that knocked him out for the entire 2024 season. Gomez has an electric fastball and slider combo, with the fastball hitting 100 mph and above-average spin rates.
• RHP Matt Allan – It feels like Mets fans have been waiting years to see Allan pitch again, and that time might finally be here. The 2019 third round pick hasn’t pitched in a game since the year he was drafted, but he was on the mound last fall in Port St. Lucie, and he was part of the Mets’ Top Gun pitching camp earlier this month. Reports have his fastball in the mid-90s right now.

Our Top 30 Mets prospect countdown will begin on Saturday!

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