Because the New York Mets ready to host the Houston Astros for a three-game sequence beginning Friday, the staff made an announcement on the No. 8-ranked pitching prospect of their group.
Will Watson returned from an almost four-month absence resulting from an indirect damage Thursday, and Double-A Binghamton instantly handed him the ball once more.
The Mets’ No. 8 pitching prospect, per MLB Pipeline, missed almost all the summer time, and the way his stuff appears to be like Thursday evening will form a choice the entrance workplace has been considering since Might.
Binghamton activated Watson from the 60-day injured checklist Thursday and instantly penciled him in to begin in opposition to the Studying Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium the identical evening. The Rumble Ponies made a companion transfer the identical day, sending right-hander Saul Garcia as much as Triple-A Syracuse.
Watson, 23, is a seventh-round select of the College of Southern California who signed for $281,300 in July 2024. He throws from a low three-quarters slot with a protracted, whippy arm motion, and his fastball now sits 94-96 mph and touches 97, a bounce from his school velocity that confirmed up virtually as quickly as he turned professional, based on Amazin’ Avenue, which ranks him the group’s No. 9 prospect total. A mid-80s slider is his major weapon in opposition to right-handed hitters and a fading changeup handles lefties.
Will Watson’s Damage Return Timeline
The damage traces again to Might 5, when Watson recorded two outs, gave up a grand slam and left that Hartford begin with what grew to become a season-altering indirect pressure. Binghamton positioned him on the 7-day injured checklist the following day, then shifted him to the 60-day checklist on July 27.
He labored again by means of rehab assignments at Single-A St. Lucie beginning Aug. 2 and Excessive-A Brooklyn beginning Aug. 20, a path Watson’s Baseball Savant web page exhibits produced combined outcomes, together with a scoreless six innings throughout three St. Lucie outings, then a tough 2 1/3-inning cease in Brooklyn.
Earlier than the damage, Watson’s season had already gone sideways. He opened 2026 again at Double-A and went 0-5 with an 8.55 ERA over six begins, strolling 12 and hanging out simply 19 in 20 innings, together with his velocity down from the place it sat throughout his 2025 breakout. Binghamton’s employees framed the droop as a compelled adjustment on the time. With out his finest stuff, Watson needed to pitch to contact as an alternative of overpowering hitters.
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The place Watson Ranks Amongst Mets Prospects
Watson’s prospect inventory climbed quick earlier than the setback. He opened 2025 at Single-A St. Lucie, reached Excessive-A Brooklyn by June and completed the 12 months at Double-A Binghamton, posting a mixed 2.60 ERA with 142 strikeouts throughout 121 1/3 innings. That run included a nine-strikeout outing over 5 2/3 scoreless innings for Binghamton in September, certainly one of his finest showings of the 12 months.
Watson, nonetheless, has posted a double-digit stroll charge at each cease since turning professional, management points that MLB Pipeline grades alongside a forty five total grade. Sports activities Illustrated ranked him sixteenth within the system coming into August, whereas SNY’s midseason checklist positioned him twenty first and famous his command should enhance for him to have any MLB future, and even to proceed as a starter. In any other case, a bullpen position appears to be like just like the extra lifelike consequence.
The Mets have developed Watson as a starter since drafting him, although he labored as a hybrid starter-reliever on the College of Southern California. Tonight is the primary actual take a look at the place that projection stands, with September innings set to resolve whether or not he heads into 2027 as rotation depth or bullpen safety.
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