The Mets’ High-A affiliate had a few players perform above and beyond expectations, but not enough to make much of an impact in the standings.
First Half Record: 33-33 (5/6, South Atlantic League North)
Second Half Record: 32-34 (5/6, South Atlantic League North)
Coney Island evokes all kinds of images: the Cyclone; the Wonder Wheel; the Steeplechase; the beach; the boardwalk. To baseball fans, Coney Island should immediately evoke images of Maimonides Park (FKA MCU Park and KeySpan Park) and the Brooklyn Cyclones. When you think of Maimonides Park and the Brooklyn Cyclones, you should think pitching.
Hansel Robles has the franchise record for lowest single-season ERA in team history, set back in 2012, when the Brooklyn Cyclones were still a short-season team. His 1.11 ERA in 72.2 innings led the team and all starters in the New York-Penn League, but the entire 2012 Brooklyn Cyclones pitching staff had incredible years. Gabriel Ynoa posted a 2.23 ERA in 76.2 IP, Luis Mateo posted a 2.45 ERA in 73.1 IP, Luis Cessa posted a 2.49 ERA in 72.1 IP, and Rainy Lara posted a 2.91 ERA in 68.0 IP. Julian Hilario was the only Cyclones starter to log a considerable amount of innings and post an ERA higher than three; even still, his 3.23 ERA was still lower than the New York-Penn League average of 3.53 that year.
Since then, there have been plenty of excellent pitching performances: In 2013, Robert Gsellman posted a 2.06 ERA in 70.0 IP and Miller Diaz posted a 2.02 ERA in 66.2 IP; in 2014, Marcos Molina posted a 1.78 ERA in 76.0 IP; in 2016, Harol Gonzalez posted a 2.01 ERA in 85.0 IP; in 2018, Jaison Vilera posted a 1.83 ERA in 73.2 IP; in 2019, Garrison Bryant posted a 2.39 ERA in 75.1 IP.
While nobody came close to beating Robles’ record this past season, the team had quite a few strong pitching performances in 2024. In total, the Cyclones had 9 pitchers who made 5 or more starts post ERAs under 4.00, 4 pitchers who made 5 or more starts post ERAs under 3.00, and 2 pitchers who made 5 or more starts post ERAs under 2.00. The two most noteworthy pitching performances in 2024 were of their two top pitching prospects, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong.
Brandon Sproat came into the 2024 season having been drafted by the Mets twice, the first time in the third-round of the 2022 MLB Draft and the second time in the second-round of the 2023 MLB Draft. There were plenty of things to like about the right-hander, but based on his surface numbers while with the Gators and looking at the scouting reports, there were a few things that just weren’t clicking; he was a pitcher that needed some optimization, and with the Mets’ new Port St. Lucie “pitching lab” now open, it looked like a match made in heaven.
Coming into the year, Sproat threw a fastball that was graded as above-average, an above-average slider, a fringe-average changeup, and a fringe-average curveball. Over the off-season, the Mets worked with the right-hander to modify his fastball to be a four-seam grip rather than a two-seam grip, worked on his changeup, and added a sweeping slider to his repertoire in addition to his almost cutter-like gyro slider. His fastball is now almost certainly a plus pitch, his slider is arguably an above-average-to-plus pitch, and his changeup is arguably an above-average-to-plus pitch; his curveball is still a fringe-average offering at best. Combined with added confidence in his stuff in the form of higher zone percentages, and it’s not just a starter’s package, but a premium starter’s package.
Sproat’s few starts in the cold April weather weren’t bad, but they weren’t anything to hang your hat on, either. He began improving at the end of the month, and before long, he was promoted to Binghamton. All in all, he posted a 1.07 ERA in 25.1 innings over 6 starts, allowing 12 hits, walking 16, and striking out 33. He would go on to dominate the Eastern League and become not just one of the Mets’ top pitching prospects, but one of the best in baseball, period.
Jonah Tong, meanwhile, got off to a tremendous start in St. Lucie, but many players have looked great in Single-A only to struggle in High-A and higher. The Canadian right-hander did not allow a single run in all four games he appeared in while posting tremendous peripherals and was promoted to Brooklyn at the beginning of May. While he did eventually allow a run with the Cyclones, he went on to have a terrific season, posting a 3.71 ERA in 85.0 innings over 19 starts, allowing 74 hits, walking 38, and striking out 110.
In addition to Sproat and Tong, as mentioned, a few other pitchers had strong seasons on the mound in Coney Island. Zach Thornton posted a 3.67 ERA in 27.0 innings, allowing 30 hits, walking 2, and striking out 22. Jawilme Ramirez posted a 3.86 ERA in 56.0 innings, allowing 51 hits, walking 26, and striking out 43. Jonathan Pintero posted a 2.50 ERA in 36.0 innings, allowing 28 hits, walking 14, and striking out 35. Nolan McLean posted a 2.57 ERA in 28.0 innings, allowing 20 hits, walking 10, and striking out 36. Jack Wenninger posted a 3.12 ERA in 43.1 innings, allowing 40 hits, walking 17, and striking out 51. Douglas Orellana posted a 1.86 ERA in 38.2 innings, allowing 32 hits, walking 18, and striking out 49. Kade Morris posted a 3.43 ERA in 57.2 innings, allowing 48 hits, walking 19, and striking out 57.
Pitching is only half the game, but the Cyclones really did not have many hitting standouts. A few players did perform above and beyond, but not enough to make much of an impact in the standings.
2023 senior draftee Nick Lorusso was the most potent bat in the Cyclones lineup for much of the season. Appearing in 70 games, he hit .267/.365/.470 with 14 doubles, 3 triples, a team-leading 11 home runs, 8 stolen bases in 9 attempts, and 40 walks to 61 strikeouts. Nick Morabito, who began his season with the St. Lucie Mets, also had a terrific season. Prior to coming to Coney Island, he hit a robust .397/.530/.513 in the 24 games he played there, hitting 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 home run, stealing 11 bases in 15 attempts, and drawing an even 18 walks to 18 strikeouts. His production slowed down when he was promoted to Brooklyn in early May, but not being able to maintain a 1.000+ OPS is understandable. In his 95 games in Brooklyn, the center fielder hit a solid .294/.373/.374 with 15 doubles, 3 triple, 3 home runs, a team and Mets minor league system leading 48 stolen bases (on top of his 11 from St. Lucie) and drew 42 walks to 80 strikeouts.
Ryan Clifford and Nolan McLean both started their seasons in Brooklyn and both had odd years there. Clifford appeared in 31 games from April until mid-May and hit .216/.412/.304 with 6 doubles, 0 triples, 1 home run, 1 stolen base, and 32 walks to 43 strikeouts. A left-handed hitter, Brooklyn regularly dampens the power of lefties, but the way his slash-line was out of whack as compared to what could have reasonably been expected was odd, with one of the more reasonable explanations being that South Atlantic League pitchers were just especially careful with Clifford, pitching around him and giving him very little to drive. Nolan McLean had almost the opposite problem. The two-way player hit .224/.297/.552 in 25 games with 7 doubles, 0 triples, 7 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 6 walks to 38 strikeouts. McLean logged 15 hits in total with the Cyclones, and 13 of them went for extra bases. Both were promoted to Binghamton around the same time, with business picking up for Clifford and McLean focusing completely on pitching.