[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. [MUSIC PLAYING] Here there, that's what cooked when you order juicy beef sounds like. The steaming hug of two slices of melted cheese, the crunch of tangy pickles and sliced onions, all topped with a toasted sesame seed bun. That's the sound of a McDonald's quarter bounder with cheese. First beef had participating US McDonald's. That excludes Alaska Hawaiian US territories. When you hear a good idea, it's natural to do a double take. That's what you might do when you hear discover will automatically double the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. Wait, what? Yup, double the cashback is something so good you might do a triple take. It pays to discover. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. Could the last wild card spot in the National League really come down to either the Mets or the Braves? I'll discuss that as well as a blow-out victory from the Mets on today's edition of Lockdown Mets. [MUSIC PLAYING] You are locked on Mets, your daily New York Mets podcast. You're part of the locked on podcast network, your team, every day. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans. You're listening to locked on Mets, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. Thank you for making locked on Mets. Your first listen every day, locked on Mets, is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. On the show today, a blow-out victory to discuss. I'll talk about the Mets win over the Rockies in the first segment. Then in the second segment, I want to discuss Mets versus Braves. Could these two teams be on a collision course where only one of them makes the playoffs this season? I'll go through the latest in the N.O. wild card race in that segment, particularly the Braves and their recent fall through the standings. So go over that. Then in the final segment, I will preview what lies ahead this weekend against the Seattle Mariners. I'll also give you some injury updates and talk about Brandon Sproach's triple-A debut. Before you attend even though, I'm your host Ryan Fickelstein. I want to find any of my work following me on X at Finkelstein Ryan. I also find some of my writing at justbaseball.com, where I work as the managing editor. This episode is brought to you by PrizePix, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com/lockedonmlb and use the code on lowercase locked on MLB for your first deposit match up to $100. There's been a lot of questions lately about the Mets bats. And luckily on Thursday, those questions were answered right from the start. The Mets did something they have never done in franchise history. The first four batters each got extra base hits. First Francisco Lindor lead off double. Then Jose Iglesias, who was in the two hole. He hits a double to drive in Lindor. Then J.D. Martinez hit the double to drive in Iglesias. And then Pete Alonso unloads and hits a homerun 471 feet to drive in J.D. Martinez and himself. The Mets were up four nothing before the fifth batter stepped into the box. Huge outburst. And then the next guys that got out hit the ball really hard. Jeff McNeil doubled that inning. It was just clear that the Mets were going to be all over Austin-Gomber. And it made for a nice, easy, joyful game against a bad baseball team. What a treat it really was. And I got to say, David Peterson is starting to become a rabbits foot of sorts. And they pointed this out during the game that we've talked about in the show in the past too. The Mets win when David Peterson's on the mound he gets a lot of run support. They're now 9-3 in games started by David Peterson. They have scored five or more runs for Peterson in eight of those wins. And they scored nine runs in five of his 12 starts. It's pretty unbelievable. Run's did not stop there. Pete Alonso homers again in the third inning, a 450-foot blast. It's funny because earlier this week he caught a lot of flack. And I gave it to him as well for his comments about how he isn't having a down year, essentially when asked about his stats being down. And so he's on pace for 40 home runs. He was an all-star, he threw those numbers out there. He was on pace for 33, 34 home runs before today. Now if you divide the amount of home runs he's hit by the games he's played and then extrapolate that over 162, he's now on pace for 30 and a half home runs, 39 home runs. So he's getting right there. I mean, a couple more home runs over the next week. All of a sudden he will be back on that 40 home run pace, talked about Pete a lot this week. And I've said in each of these shows, there is still that possibility that he's going to go off. And I was actually texting with Patrick Lyons who covers the Rockies for us at just baseball. So he was at the game. And we're texting back and forth about Pete Alonso. And I literally said this guy could make himself a hundred million dollars if he just got hot for the next two months. And you said that's crazy. But if you're talking about total value of the contract, the difference between Pete Alonso signing a three year deal or a four year deal compared to a six year deal is massive. And if he could finish this season strong, whether it's from the Mets or another team, he's going to get all that money back that we thought he lost this year. He's sitting at 25 home runs with enough time to hit 15 more. And so I would not rule him out by any stretch. Great game by Pete. He was also in front of Mark Vientos in the fifth and he got a base hit Vientos that hit a two run homer to put the Mets up seven to nothing. Alonso three for five day guys OPS over 800 with the monster game. Now, getting back to David Peterson, he was really solid yet again. This was his first time ever pitching at course field or at least in a MLB game. He actually pitched at course fields a lot growing up because he grew up in the Colorado area. He was part of some type of a select Rockies team for player development in the area. We had a great piece at just baseball about David Peterson. He gave a lot of good quotes to another one of our writers that covers the Rockies, Kevin Henry. He talked a lot about growing up in Colorado, what that start meant for him. A lot of friends and family in the building. And he did a great job. I mean, he navigated all of those different threats where he gave up a hit here, walked there ultimately through five innings. He ends up allowing four hits, three walks, one earn run with five strikeouts. The fifth inning was the one where he struggled the most and that ends up being the end of the game form after that fifth struck at the lead off man, but then gives up a couple of base hits, walk the bases loaded. Then he got a fly ball in Tyrone Taylor who made a bunch of great catches. Did a great job running that ball down in the left center gap. He makes the catch a run comes in on the sack fly. And then David Peterson strikes out Chris Bryant to get out of that inning. Now Peterson didn't give them that's a lot of length, only five innings. And that's been something that's been a little bit of a pattern. We're also not seeing them push him much beyond 80, 90 pitches. He was at 80 pitches. He had a big lead. You probably could have thrown him out there for one more, but I think the Mets value for one, keeping his pitch count a little more reasonable as they are rolling with a five minute rotation right now. And also, I think they don't want him out there for a third time through the lineup where things might get a little bit more dicey. So he's done a really good job in the role they've asked of him, which is lately sort of a five and dive guy. But he's got a three, three, four ERA in the season and the Mets are giving him a ton of run support and winning a lot of those games. So I think Peterson is doing exactly what they need him to do right now. Now when it comes to the bullpen, really sawed work today, Adam Montevino came on, hit just scoreless inning. He did allow a hit in the walk, but worked around that. I'll talk about out of Vino a little bit in the final segment today 'cause he made some comments about his spot on the team and why it would be foolish to get rid of him. So we'll talk about that a little bit as we preview the weekend series where Reed Garrett may join the Mets. I'll talk a little bit about the Mets' options in the bullpen. After out of Vino, Ryan Stanett came on, maybe looked the best he has in a Mets uniform, struck out two in a perfect inning. And the data young came on and pitched the final two innings. The Mets scored two more late in the game on a base hit by Francisco Lindor. So a very lopsided affair. And Danny Young does a great job getting through those two innings and how he'll probably be rewarded is getting sent to Syracuse because that's what happens in baseball. He mopped up those two innings, did a great job, but now his arms a little bit tired, not gonna be able to pitch in the next couple of days and they're gonna have to make a roster move. So Danny Young, who's been throwing the ball really well lately, might be a roster casualty. Again, we'll talk about that a little bit more in the final segment. But with this win today, the Mets moved back into a playoff position ahead of the Atlanta Braves, who were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers. I wanna talk about the Braves in the next segment. Are the Mets a better team than Atlanta right now? What's this race gonna look like down the stretch? We'll go through all of it in just a minute. First though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episode's brought to you by Liquid IV. 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It's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win, keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply. eBay's guaranteed fit is only available to US customers. (upbeat music) Step to date with all the latest from the world of sports by checking out lockdown sports today, streaming 24/7 on YouTube. For the first time since June of 2022, the Atlanta Braves are not in a playoff position. That's right. For over two seasons now, this team has always been in the playoff picture most of the time leading the National League East, but it's been a bad year for the Braves and they just had a miserable series against the Milwaukee Brewers. I talked about this on yesterday's show. I said it's been a bad first two games and Charlie Morton's on the mound and Morton has knocked them the ball well lately. Well, Charlie Morton gave up eight earn runs. The Braves lost 16 to seven on Thursday and you saw some views of that crowd, not much of a crowd, but as much as Braves fans want to come at them, that's when, or Mets fans, when they see city field empty in August or September of a bad season, well guess what? The Braves were in a playoff spot going into the game today and their fans didn't show up because it's been bad based on Atlanta and their fan base currently knows it and granted it was a day game middle of the week. Those aren't going to be ones where you typically pack the house, but it did look like a sad scene there in Atlanta in a rough series. They lost the first game 10 and nothing, second one eight to five, last one 16 to seven. The strength of this team this year has been their pitching and that eluded them in this series against Milwaukee. They were outscored 34 to 12. I mentioned that because with that crazy lopsided affair and the Mets scoring nine runs and only giving up one today, they have now moved past the Braves in run differential. I believe maybe for the first time this season, the Mets are at plus 41, the Braves plus 33. The Mets a half a game up in the standings over Atlanta. And remember, these two teams have squared off 10 times this year. Their record is five and five. So the last series that these two teams score off could very well decide who makes the playoffs, who doesn't, who will have that season series tiebreaker. And that's the second to last series of the season. The Mets will then go on to play the Brewers. The Braves will go on to play the Royals. Two teams that will be in the playoff picture. The Royals might have more to play for once we get all the way down to that final series. But the Brewers would be facing off against a Mets team that they might be set to go up against in the wildcard round. So a lot can happen. I don't want to get ahead of myself. But right now, which of these two teams is better? Because I'll tell you over the last two months, the Mets have been significantly better than the Atlanta Braves. And the Braves, they have a lot of questions right now. There's a reason why they're in this position. The first part is you lose Ronald Acuna Jr, the reigning MVP, and Spencer Strider, the beginning of the season. Strider being a sai-young favorite coming into the year. Your ace, your MVP gone. Now, they've also been without Michael Harris. They're starting center fielder for a big portion of this season. Now, currently, you're seeing Ronaldo Lopez, who just went on the aisle recently. Aussie Albe's with a fractured wrist. He's been in and out of line at this year and now probably done for the season. So they've really gone through it. Even they pick up Whitmerryfield, and he gets hurt for like the first time in his career. Was able to have won in Nielson, but still. They've just been hexed with injuries this year. And now, Lopez is a question mark. He's got forearm tightness. And they need him. And this is a guy that is converted from being a relief pitcher the last couple of years. Now, he did have a few years stretch in Chicago. Early in his career, he was a starting pitcher. So he did have more of a pedigree than guys like Jordan Hicks and Garrett Crochet that did it this year and made that jump. But still, for a guy that is going through a massive jump in innings to have forearm tightness in August, you really don't know how available he's gonna be down the stretch. Their ace right now is Chris Sale. He's been unbelievable. A guy with a checkered injury pass over the last few years. And Max Freed, same thing. So this is the most vulnerable the Braves have been in a very long time. And you look at their starting lineup offensively, and they just haven't been a good offensive team, which is shocking because last year they were the best offensive team. But you look at their lineup, they only have three guys right now with an OPS over 720 on the season. Travis Darno, Austin Riley, Marcelo Zuna. Darno has a 780 OPS, 11 home runs, 14 doubles. That was in 74 games played. Austin Riley is up to 806 on his OPS, 25 doubles, 17 home runs. He really struggled earlier this season. So he's playing much better baseball lately to bring up those offensive stats to a respectable number. Marcelo Zuna's been putting up MVP offensive numbers. He'll never win the award because he's Marcelo Zuna with all of his past off the field. But you still got to acknowledge the guy who's been ridiculously good, 33 home runs, 88 RBIs, 21 doubles, 954 OPS. The Braves would not be in this race at all, if not for Marcelo Zuna and what he's done this year. Now they picked up what Marifold, as I mentioned, he's their answer at second base, but Marifold was cut from the Phillies for a reason, not having a great year. I don't expect him to all of a sudden become an all star, but you never know, he wasn't all star last year. So we'll see what he does in the stretch. Orlando RC is going to be their everyday short stop still. He's got a 640 OPS on the season. Jared Kalanik has been good for them. And in left field, he could be a really sad all-around player in center field. He's a little more stretched thin defensively. In left right now, it's Amduvall, Eli White, Ramon L'Oriano. They have a lot of guys cycling, but none of them has really hit. And then in right field, all of a sudden Tori Isolaire, who hasn't been a consistent outfielder since he was with the Braves back in 2021, helping them win the World Series. So it is a team that is counting on a lot of things breaking the right way. So L'Or was sort of that ignitability. We'll see what happens. Pick up where maybe he can help take that line to a different level, but it puts a hole on your field every single day and right, 'cause he's not a good defensive outfielder. And for his health, he has stopped playing right field. So how is that gonna work out down the stretch? You compare their offense to the Mets right now, the Mets have nine guys with an OPS over 720. Really nine guys, OPS over 740. And you look at Harrison Bader, he's at that 720 line that Matt Olson's at, both of those guys at a 720 OPS, drastically different players. Matt Olson was a MVP finalist last year. He was really good. This year, Olson's sitting 227, 306 on base, 414 slug, 18 home runs, 54 RBIs. Peter Lanzo, again, has cut a lot of flack. He's got a better average, got a better on base, significantly better slug. He's got seven more home runs than Matt Olson and almost 10 more RBIs. Now, Olson can turn it on. And this team is not one to be taken lightly. There's a reason why they've been sitting in that playoff spot for two plus years and are consistently atop the National League East. No one would be surprised and everyone expects the Braves to get hot and end up in a playoff spot. But if there was a year for them to fall out of it with everything they've gone through, it's this season. And August is going to be a really tough month for them. Whereas the Mets got to take advantage because they got a little bit of an easier schedule, at least in the short term. Eventually, the Mets are going to play the Orioles. They're going to play the Diamondbacks, the Padres. They will play some tough teams really down the stretch this month. But the Braves, after getting embarrassed in front of their home crowd, now head out West to face the Rockies and we'll see what happens there. We just watched the Rockies play a series. They could be a scrappy team. You never know, they might take a game or two. Then they got to go and play the Giants who are fighting for their playoff lives each day. Then they play the Angels. Now, those teams on the surface aren't the best. But going out West as we're watching the Mets deal with right now is never easy. They then have an off day, come home, face the Phillies. At the end of the month, six of their final 12 games are against Philly. Now, the Phillies have not been great lately either. So you never really can just look at a schedule and decide, oh, that's going to be a loss. It's going to be win. It's a losing battle to play that game. But there is an opportunity you would think right now for the Mets to get an edge on the Braves heading into September where they will really need it because the Mets had to play the Phillies a bunch in September. In September for the Braves, they got the Dodgers for four. And then other than that, it's a lot of teams that are sub 500 record. Mets and Royals close out their season. Those are the only other two series against the team over 500 is the Dodgers Mets Royals. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Braves have a September run in them. They should get Michael Harris back. We'll see what happens with Ronaldo Lopez. Sounds like he might be back at the end of this month. So put him right back into the fold. Yeah, this Braves team can still end up having a good finish to their season and put themselves right in the playoff fixture. But that's what's going to make this race so much fun. Seems like every day the Diamondbacks and the Padres are winning. Let me check as I was originally starting this recording of the Diamondbacks, we're heading towards losing and they did, they lost to the Phillies tonight. Start off a four game set against Philly in Arizona. So we'll see how that series goes. But the Padres and the Diamondbacks have started to push themselves to the forefront of this wildcard race to the top of the standings here. They're actually not even that far off from the Dodgers and the NLS. So this is really a very tight mix. Top to bottom because, I mean, the Phillies won tonight. So the Mets are a little bit further back. They're seven and a half games back. But that's not even the type of lead we expected the Phillies to have at this stage of the season. Phillies are at 68 wins, the Mets are at 61, Braves are at 60. So we really are at a point in the season where anything can happen down the stretch. It's going to be a ton of fun. But it does feel like the Mets and Braves are on a collision course. Where that series, the second to last one of the season, may just decide who is going to make it and be a playoff team this year. And that's eerie because it's very similar to 2022. When those two teams were battling out in the NLS, then it was a different conversation. They both were going to make the playoffs. But who was going to win the division? And that was also a series in Atlanta, also the second to last series of the season. Can't write the script any better for the Mets to get some redemption now. Because in the Steve Cohen era, the Braves have been the team that's been the thorn in the Mets side. Now the Phillies have had more success, not more success, not to say the Phillies have had more success. The last two years, the Phillies have had more success. The Braves won a World Series in the first year of the Steve Cohen era, which was again, when they were a thorn in the Mets side, the Mets had a five game lead at the trade deadline. They blew it, Bray's won the division won the World Series. 2022, the Mets were leading the division, almost wire to wire. And then at the end, we all know what happened. Bray's end up winning the division. Mets get bounced in the wildcard round. And then last year, it was just an embarrassment for the Mets. This would be a chance to send a message to the Braves, beat them to end up in that playoff mix, and then hopefully transition into a brighter future where the Mets can maybe even be the class of the National League East. Gonna take some time for all that to come together. But I got faith in ownership, I got faith. And the guy I'm calling the shots with David Stearns, the Mets have a good farm system, good players on their team. And maybe this is just the start of a longer run for the New York Mets. First things first though, they got to play the Mariners this weekend. So to close out the show today, I will preview the final series of this road trip, also update you on some injuries, as well as Brandon Sproch's AAA debut. We'll get to all that in just a minute. First though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episode's brought to you by prize picks. Prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. 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This is Ryan Ficklestein, the host of Locked On Met, and I love the No Shell's wonderful pistachios, so I can eat them straight out of the bag whenever I need a boost, and my favorite flavor is their sea salted vinegar. But if you're a pistachio purist who loves cracking open every nut, they also have great flavors like sweet chili and salt and pepper. Grab wonderful pistachios and elevate your snack and game today. Visit wonderfulpestachios.com to learn more. (upbeat music) If you're an everyday listener of the show, make sure you become a Locked On Met Insider. This is our texting service for your updates from me. Anytime news breaks on the Met, you can ask me questions anytime. You take part in our Locked On Met sign photo giveaways, and you also get the line of graphic sensor phone each day, so you know who's gonna be the Met, starting now with the ever having to go on social media. If you wanna be a Locked On Met Insider, find the link in the episode description, go to subtext.com/lockedonmetz. All right, so the Metz will now score off against the Seattle Mariners, who have had a rough stretch, but they are a very good team with a great pitching staff. On June 18th, they were 44 and 31, 13 games over 500. They have since gone 15 and 26, following two games over 500. Actually, let me see what they did tonight. Hold on, because as I started to record, I wrote my notes there, record lately, fact that they just got swept by the Tigers, 'cause they were loose ago, so that I did it. And I thought that I might jinx them, so let me look it up real quick. No. Okay, so now I gotta adjust all of my stats. They won, so you're welcome to the Mariners fans out there who might be tuning in, trying to get a little series preview. I literally wrote my notes, they just got swept by the Tigers, never scoring more than two runs in a game while they scored four runs. As they rallied back, let's see. It looks like Luke Rayleigh walked it off with what a home run. Oh, Mitch Haniger? Wow. Mitch Haniger, eighth career walk-off in the Mariners, perhaps his most improbable clears the bases, lifts the Mariners to miraculous one run win. He's also now a franchise leader in walk-off. So there you go. Mariners are gonna be feeling a little bit better than I thought they were heading into this series. Regardless, everything I was saying before still holds true. This is a team that has been playing worst baseball lately. They were great to start the year, but they are carried by their pitching staff. And when they get enough offense, like did it tonight, score four runs, they typically can win games. Game one of this series will be Jose Quintana vs. Bryce Miller, Bryce Miller, 3-6-2 ERA in the season. Game two, Chama Nives, Logan Gilbert, Gilbert. I mean, fringes of the Sion conversation, 3-0-5 ERA. He has been so nasty this year. A guy that at one point, at least from an outside perspective, I think was viewed as, oh, Logan Gilbert seems like he could be a rotation mainstay, might be a back-end starter. Then it's like, oh, he's a middle rotation guy. Now, I mean, he's one of these guys that's a frontline pitcher, and they really have an entire rotation full of them. It's going to be a tough matchup, but Chama Nives, the guy you want going up against him, so that'll be a really exciting game. I think that might be the best matchup of the series. Final game of the series is going to be very interesting because Luis Severino, got to try to bounce back, going up against Luis Castillo, who's got a 3-4-8 ERA in the season. You look at those three pitching matchups, you can make an argument that the Mariners have an edge in each and every one, but you look at the starting lineups, the Mets definitely have the edge right now offensively. They got to find a way against and tough pitchers to score runs. We've seen the Mets have an ability to do that this year, particularly over the last couple of months. So it's going to be a fun series to watch. And then obviously, you want to see how the starting pitchers hold up for the Mets, and really, if these turn into some nail biters, where it's pitching battles, and let's just say the Mets are holding on to a two-to-one lead, what does that bullpen look like? Can they hold down those close games, or will Mitch Hanniger end up having some more walkoff fun in Seattle? To get you some injury updates here, Starlene Marte played five innings in right field in Port St. Lucie and Homard in a second rehab game. Imagine he's going to move to double-A this weekend, play some more, and potentially be ready for the Mets homestand, starting on Tuesday. So that could be a very good addition to add back into the fold, whether it is for that first year is going to see athletics, or the following one. Starlene Marte is coming back soon. Meanwhile, Reid Garrett should be joining the Mets in Seattle. I would think that Danny Young is going to be the one that's sent down, even though he has been pitching well lately. He's got that roster flexibility to option him. I don't think they're going to option Brazaban. I don't think they're going to DFA Adam Montevino. And I think Alex Young, because he didn't pitch today as the fresher of the two lefty arms, I think he's going to stay. Now, Adam Montevino was quoted in a story from Mike Puma about his roster spot. And he had some interesting quotes. He said, "It occurred to me that it could happen "as far as getting cut. "But at the same time, you can't control it. "I didn't really worry about it. "As far as I'm concerned, the way I stuff evaluate, "I'm still throwing the ball the way I want to, "for the most part, "so I just have to try to live with the results." And then he said, "I think it would be foolish "to let me go." Now, I've talked about Adam Montevino potentially being on the hot seat for a while now, and maybe I've ignored some pretty decent pitching, because over his last 15 appearances, Adam Montevino has a 2.19 ERA. He has 55 strikeouts on the season, and 42 and a third inning's pitch strike are right over 30%. All of that is really solid. He had a horrible month of May, and then prior to that, he was good. So you could just look at his season and say, "Oh, you throw May out." He's been a great pitcher for the Mets. I would push back and say, watching him throughout this season, you haven't been able to have the same confidence level in Adam Montevino as you did back when he was lights down in 2022, or even for stretches last year. Now, lately he has thrown the ball better, but he definitely does not have the trust of his manager in high-level situations. That's evidently clear. With that said, when we've talked about the bullpen roster crunch, I have always said, while it's a possibility, I don't know if they will cut Adam Montevino. And the reason why I've said that is because he's a leader on this team. And I was listening to the radio broadcast that they were talking about it. The younger arms in the Mets bullpen, they go to Adam Montevino and they have a question. This guy is one of the elder statesmen of the league right now. He's been a veteran. It'll be for a very long time, has a ton of experience. I think that the time where we could see Adam Montevino off the roster would be when the Mets had to make a playoff roster. Because I actually do think that he's right. It'd be foolish. I don't know about that part. I think there would be justification depending on the arms you're trying to bring back, but because he doesn't have the ability to be sent to Syracuse. And other guys do, and you also have to remember in September, the Mets are gonna be able to expand their roster to 28 and they can add a 14th pitcher on the roster. So then you could have a nine-man bullpen. Fatima and Avino makes it the next couple of weeks. I think he's gonna be there through September. Again, I think his roster spot might be more in jeopardy come playoff time, but the Mets are fortunate enough to be one of those teams. Now, you look at the mix. You got Diaz, Budo, Maiton, Stanek. Those guys, I think, are definitely locked in for the rest of the season. And Avino might be with them. You then have your optional guys, guys that you can send down. Barazabon, Garrett, Nunez. And Sean Rude-Fully is actually not a guy who can option, but a guy that could stay on a rehab assignment for a long time right now. And someone who could get DFA if you just get into that roster crunch mode. I think they'd make room for him. I think once he got healthy and showed that ability, you could see Sean Rude-Fully replacing Barazabon because they have the option. And then giving Sean Rude-Fully a little bit of run to see what he has, but who knows exactly how that's all gonna shake out. Then you have your lefties, Alex Young, Danny Young, Matt Gage, all with the optionality to go up and down. I think one of them won't be on the roster at all times, but they all could be flipped up and down whenever the Mets choose to. And then you have your wildcards of Brandon Sprote in Shintaro Fujinami, but I don't know if either of them will pitch for the Mets this season. That all brings me to Brandon Sprote's Triple-A debut, which is where we're gonna close the show. Not a great outing. Four and two thirds, got off to 88 pitches, so the Mets clearly trying to keep him stretched out as a starting pitcher. Any thoughts of him moving into the bullpen are on the back burner for the moment, who maybe could be factoring in as a starting pitcher down the stretch instead of a reliever from the Mets. You know they might need a more high upside arm come play-off time. I don't know if they really would throw him into the fight to that degree. I'm still pretty doubtful of that, but it is interesting that he started this first game in Triple-A, got up to 88 pitches, went four and two third innings, had a nightmare third inning though, where he gave up five hits, one walk, three of those hits were singles, two of them were home runs, all those runners came in. So six runs allowed in that one inning. He then went back out there for the fourth and the fifth, got through those pretty well, ends up getting pulled in the middle of that fifth inning as the Mets probably saw him, get past that pitch count, maybe it was 85 to 90, gets up to 88, that's the end of his day. Joey Lukasey would eventually piggyback him, there's another reliever that came and they got the final out of that fifth inning, then Lukasey came on and pitched until there was two outs in the ninth, and for whatever reason Tyler Zuber came on to get one out. But bottom line is for now, it seems like Brandon Sprott has a spot in the Triple-A rotation, they'll get a couple turns there before the Mets make a decision, whether that is to bring him up, shut him down, who knows what's gonna happen. My guess at this point, with the amount of arms the Mets have to factor into the bullpen mix, I think that they may just ride it out and let Sprott finish off this year strong in Triple-A, so he's ready for the big leagues next year, but you never know. One final note on Sprott, we just had our release of our top 100 at just baseball and Brandon Sprott's not just in the top 30, he is a top 20 prospect in baseball, according to Arm Lane, he's at number 18, which was the fourth best pitching prospect in all of baseball. So that is very exciting to see him start to climb up and up those lists. It's probably gonna enter next year, maybe even being, who knows, a consensus top 20 prospect in the game or at least consensus top 30. Definitely in my eyes, the best prospect in the Mets system right now. Anyway, that's gonna be all for today's edition of Locked on Mets, appreciate all of you. For tuning in, I'll be up late tomorrow or today as you're listening to this, watching Mets vs Mariners to give you that Saturday morning show or whatever happens. So make sure if you're listening on the audio side, you follow, you rate your review, wherever you get your podcasts. You're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button, trying to get to 10,000 subs by the end of the season. So I appreciate all of you who continue to subscribe. You wanna follow me on social media, you can do so on X at Finkelstein Ryan, you can follow the show on Locked on Mets. Thank you for making Locked on Mets. First, listen to your first watch every day, now for your second watch, head over to YouTube and check out the first ever 24/7 streaming channel that covers everything. The world of sports, the local experts from each team and the legal experts from each league, buying Locked on sports today streaming 24/7 on YouTube and on Amazon Fire TV. I love sports, I love them so much, I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs wind down, we get fewer games and the sports aren't sporting like I want them to. But Fandil lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. 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