Mets minor-league report: Tyler Stuart
photos of Binghampton Rumble Ponies Tyler Stuart Credit: BRONSON HARRIS Binghampton Rumble Ponies team PHOTOGRAPHER
Player: Tyler Stuart
Age: 23 (born October 8, 1999)
Team: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Eastern League)
Position: Pitcher
Bats/throws: R/R
Height/weight: 6-9 / 250
Acquired: 2022 amateur draft, round 6, 179th pick. $220,000, signing bonus.
Background: The Illinois native was a three-sport athlete at Herscher High School. Stuart had an 1.06 ERA with 117 strikeouts and hit .466 in his senior season. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi, redshirting in 2019 and again in 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned in a relief role in 2021, posting a 7.16 ERA in 16 ⅓ innings. Stuart rebounded in 2022 and had a 3.38 ERA in 40 innings (26 appearances).
2023 update: Stuart made 14 starts from April 9 to July 5 with the Brooklyn Cyclones, and led the minor leagues with a 1.55 ERA in 75 ⅔ innings. His performance earned him a promotion to Double-A Binghamton, where he currently has a 4.34 ERA through six starts. The Mets 17th ranked prospect, according to MLB pipeline, has a 3.31 (106/32) strikeout-to-walk ratio in 104 ⅔ innings this season across High-A and Double-A.
What he’s saying: “Consistency is important, I don’t think I need to change much at this point. You win your starts with what you do between them. Whether its arm care, the weight room or getting myself into the right mindset, that helps me win my starts, as opposed to just not preparing and hoping for the best.”
Scouting report: The slider wasn’t a major weapon for Stuart coming out of college, but it is now. He throws the pitch around 50% of the time to generate swings-and misses . He utilizes a low-90s sinker that has helped him produce a 45.4% ground ball rate. Stuart throws from a three-quarters arm slot and also features a four-seam fastball and a changeup.
Being a three-sport athlete: “Football originally felt like more of my sport, I had a great love for it. My junior year of high school was when I figured I wanted to go with baseball. I sat down and talked it out with my parents, feeling like I had more potential down the road with baseball.
Focusing on the slider: “I was pretty fastball-heavy in college and didn’t spin it very well. I remember going into camp on the first day of August and sitting down with some pitching guys from the front office. I told them I wanted to develop a slider because I needed it, and they agreed. I attacked it in the offseason and got a good feel for it. “
Converting to a starter: “I pretty much went a full four years without throwing over 60 pitches in an outing, so the biggest adjustment was building back up. I was also throwing hard out the bullpen, coming in off adrenaline, so I needed to be able to come in and throw some more off-speed stuff.”
Probable MLB promotion: 2024
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
