Delivery Tweak Could Unlock Best Fastball For Mets’ Brandon Sproat
Righthander Brandon Sproat was among the Mets prospects who most captivated scouts during the Spring Breakout game. He retired all three Nationals hitters he faced on seven pitches in his one inning of work.
Showcasing a 99 mph fastball, the 23-year-old Sproat was pitching in his first competitive game since the Mets drafted him in the second round last year out of Florida.
“There were nerves,” Sproat said. “Being able to pitch in this spring training stadium for the first time, it was good just to take it all in. It’s everything that I’ve worked for.”
The Mets initially drafted the 6-foot-3 Sproat in the third round in 2022, but he didn’t sign. Last summer he agreed to terms for a slot bonus of $1,474,500.
Sproat is slated to join High-A Brooklyn and joins a contingent of pitching prospects in the organization, a group that includes fellow righthanders Christian Scott, Blade Tidwell, Mike Vasil, Dom Hamel, Nolan McLean and Tyler Stuart.
Sproat has been working to refine his delivery.
“The assumption with Brandon was that if we could refine his delivery a little bit, it would allow him to have a more consistent pitch profile with his fastball,” Mets farm director Andrew Christie said.
“He’s shown kind of an in-between fastball, not quite a sinker, not quite a true four-seamer. We thought we could get it to more of a truer four-seam fastball profile if we could get some delivery adjustments.”
Much of that adjustment pertains to the manner in which Sproat loads his back hip and transfers his energy efficiently.
“He has shown flashes of real good fastball profiles, but also flashes of really bad ones,” Christie said, noting that despite velocity that often touched triple digits in college, Sproat’s fastball was inconsistent as a swing-and-miss pitch.
Sproat’s “elite” changeup also intrigues to the Mets.
“He’s maintained that,” Christie said. “He’s also comfortable with a short, hard slider. That is a huge, ‘comfort pitch’ weapon for him.”
