Prospect Deep Dive: Brandon Sproat
Fastball: 65 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 60 | Cutter: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55
Last week’s prospect deep dive was Drew Gilbert — a prospect whom I think has the best chance to be with the Mets for the longest amount of time. When it comes to the first pitching prospect you’d see called up in 2025 — it’s Brandon Sproat.
Sproat, 24, is 6’3”, 215 pounds, with very repeatable mechanics. His repertoire features an upper 90’s fastball, sharp slider, good curveball, and a plus-changeup.
It’s not often you have a pitching prospect with seemingly endless potential. Not saying Brandon Sproat is Paul Skenes, he’s not — but what Paul Skenes is to the Pirates now — Brandon Sproat could see a similar type of hype for the Mets, this time next year.
Given his higher velocity the later in a game he goes, Sproat’s often been compared to Justin Verlander. I try not to make too many comparisons, but this one’s more accurate.
The runway for Brandon Sproat to quickly ascend can be due to a multitude of factors. One is the recent rumors of the Mets being interested in adding another veteran infielder. When you hear that, all eyes turn towards Jeff McNeil and free agent Jose Iglesias.
After talking with Newsday’s Tim Healey this week, you get more of a sense that Luisangel Acuña may not break camp — who should be next in-line to backup McNeil. If proven to be true, it’d be another prospect’s timetable that could get delayed — putting more emphasis on Brandon Sproat’s debut.
While Pete Alonso is the free agent cloud looming over the Mets this offseason, Jose Iglesias casts his own. Within the Mets’ long list of free agents available, a one-year, $7-8 million contract for Jose Iglesias could be enough to have him back in Queens. As Tim Healey also noted, there’s something to be said for Jose Iglesias ending his amazing season with the Mets on a high note. After all, he does have a music career.
Regardless, the Mets’ interest in another veteran infielder assumes Jeff McNeil will get first crack as the Opening Day second baseman.
Now back to the topic at hand — Prospect Deep Dive: Brandon Sproat.
High School
Sproat attended Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, Florida. The same high school which graduated 12 MLB players, with the most notable being Addison Russell and Drew Cumberland. Sproat was seen as a highly-rated prospect out of high school, with Baseball America ranking him as the No. 233 ranked prospect in the 2019 class.
With Drew Gilbert, it was very interesting to see that he came up more as a pitcher — but that’s honestly more common than some may think. For Brandon Sproat, he didn’t start pitching until his junior year of high school.
Now that’s impressive.
What isn’t impressive — Brandon Sproat’s inconsistency.
Regardless, he was still good enough to get drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 7th round (205th overall) in the 2019 MLB Draft. Sproat turned down the Rangers to purse his collegiate career at Florida — becoming the highest draft pick in the 2019 class not to sign with the organization that drafted him.
It’s not uncommon for players to be drafted multiple times. Out of high school, many players elect to stay in school to improve their draft stock.
While at Florida, Brandon Sproat certainly improved his.
University of Florida
Like Drew Gilbert, Sproat’s first collegiate season was during the COVID-19-shortened season, where Sproat appeared in only six innings over four games as a reliever. He allowed just one run; allowed two hits, three walks, and struck out eight.
Sproat built up more experience his sophomore season, starting two of his 16 total appearances for Florida in 2021. Surprisingly, Sproat seriously struggled with his control, having a 6.65 ERA with 15 walks in just 21.2 innings pitched by year’s end.
Sproat continued his issues with control and consistency into the 2021 summer. After one unappealing appearance in the Cape Cod League, Sproat moved into Florida’s rotation almost full-time in 2022 — where he never looked back.
If Sproat continues to not look back in his career, he can look forward to pitching with Christian Scott in 2026. Scott, 25, pitched for Florida from 2019-2021. After undergoing Tommy John in September, Christian Scott will be back next season.
In Sproat’s third year in Gainsville, technically a redshirt junior season, he was 9-4 with a 3.41 ERA. Over 89.2 innings, Sproat struck out 82 batters. He saw his fastball tick up from the mid-90’s to the upper-90’s — sometimes triple-digits — more consistently. This, all while adding a plus-changeup to his repertoire and improving his slider as an ultimate out-pitch.
To finish out his junior campaign, Brandon Sproat was dominant.
In his final six starts at Florida, Sproat steamrolled his way to a 5-0 record with a 1.59 ERA — while holding opposing hitters to a mere .218 average.
At the conclusion of the 2022 season, the Mets selected Brandon Sproat in the third round (90th overall) in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Instead, he decided to return to Florida for his senior year.
Though Sproat never gave the reason as to why he didn’t sign with the Mets right away — the two likeliest reasons are seeing his draft stock increase, and how imperative school was to Sproat.
Pitchers going to Gainesville and seeing their stocks increase has happened before. Alex Faedo was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 40th round out of high school — and subsequently went on to be drafted by the Tigers again in the first round of 2017.
A year later, Brady Singer agreed to be drafted out of high school after being a second-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2015. Singer’s deal fell apart because of medicals, but he still became a Royals first round pick in 2018.
A similar scenario occurred with Brandon Sproat and the Mets.
In his final season in Gainesville, Sproat went 8-3 with a 4.66 ERA, earning Second Team All-SEC honors. This, while striking out 134 batters over 106.1 innings.
At his best, Brandon Sproat does look extremely unhittable.
It certainly wasn’t the similar dominance from Sproat’s junior year; but he got a taste of Omaha as a senior — when Florida and LSU faced off in the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Baseball Championship. LSU ended up defeating Florida in three games.
After the conclusion of the 2023 season, the Mets (for the second time) selected Brandon Sproat. After the 56th pick in the 2nd round with a pick value bonus of $1,474,500, Brandon Sproat was officially a New York Met.
New York Mets
From the second he was in the Mets’ system, Sproat quickly ascended. Beginning in High-A Brooklyn for the Cyclones, he posted a 1.07 ERA in six games.
It didn’t take long for him to get promoted to Binghamton. In 11 games, Sproat had a 2.45 ERA. In May of 2024, both Brandon Sproat and Ryan Clifford were promoted to Double-A at the same time.
A couple months later, Sproat pitched in the 3rd inning of the All-Star Future’s Game.
In one inning, he threw 12 pitches, ratcheting his fastball up to 99 MPH. Sproat normally sits 95-97 MPH, so the extra velocity was extremely encouraging to see on an amplified stage.
In his final outing in Double-A, Sproat threw five shutout innings. In totality, he notched 13 strikeouts — including the final 11 consecutively.
Safe to say it caught the attention of the Mets — who promoted Brandon Sproat to Triple-A Syracuse in the very beginning of August.
In Triple-A, Brandon Sproat struggled.
For the first time in his professional career, Sproat pitched to a 7.53 ERA through seven games.
It was a tough spot that the Mets and Sproat found themselves in. The argument that he was promoted to Triple-A late, while approaching a career-high in innings, is legitimate. Regardless of validity, it’s never very wise to focus on the past.
Given the fact that Sproat could use some more development, I would not bank at all on him breaking camp. I would not be shocked if he’s up as early as May — but anytime in the 1st half of 2025 would be ideal.
Like any prospect the Mets have, a lot is determinant on need. Success in each prospects own right is important, but there ultimately needs to be a spot on the team for them to play.
The Mets showed their true feelings about Brandon Sproat when they didn’t trade him for Garrett Crochet this winter. Regardless, 2025 will be a very interesting year for the Mets — especially for Brandon Sproat.
Don’t be surprised if in 2026 you see some rotation variation of:
Kodai Senga
Sean Manaea
Brandon Sproat
David Peterson
Clay Holmes
Christian Scott
A long way away.
Case and point, Brandon Sproat can ascend quickly. The Mets have been built on pitching as long as they’ve been a franchise. Brandon Sproat could be another rotational piece they hope to someday build around.
Keep on the lookout for prospect deep dives every Friday!
Brandon Sproat’s Scouting Report:
“The 6-foot-3 right-hander can touch triple-digits, as he's done a few times on the pro side, and he'll typically sit in the 95-97 mph range. He'll get some armside run on the heater too, so batters have to worry about more than just the velocity. His upper-80s changeup shows decent enough separation and good fade to give him another weapon that's worked in both college and the pros. He'll show a mid-80s slider and an upper-80s cutter -- two different pitches with varying amounts of horizontal break that have given upper-level hitters fits. There is also a 78-81 mph curveball that ranks behind the rest of the group in usage.”