Get to know Mets pitching prospect Tyler Stuart, who leads the minors in ERA

The Mets’ farm system is loaded with impressive young talent. While the position players may be more well-known, there are a ton of pitching prospects making some big strides forward this season, and one of those is right-hander Tyler Stuart.

The Mets selected Stuart in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Southern Mississippi. He was mainly used as a reliever in college after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021.

Upon his arrival though, the Mets quickly made the decision to return him to his previous role as a starting pitcher, and so far he’s answered the call.

Stuart’s in the midst of a terrific season and he’s been one of the biggest breakout stars in the organization. He started out the year with Brooklyn but was quickly promoted after posting a 1.55 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts through 14 starts.

So far, it’s been a relatively seamless transition to Double-A Binghamton for the 23-year-old. Stuart is coming off another strong outing in which he allowed just two hits and struck out six across six shutout innings, good enough to take home Eastern League Player of the Week honors.

Overall, he now has minor league-leading 2.20 ERA to go along with a 1.10 WHIP and 112 strikeouts across 110.2 innings this season.

With his breakout performance, Stuart has been rising up organization rankings. Joe DeMayo recently rated him as his No. 18 prospect in the system in his midseason Top 20 and MLB Pipeline had him at 17th overall.

DeMayo had this to say about the big righty:

He throws strikes and will touch 95 mph with a plus slider. There are some questions about getting swings-and-misses at the upper levels. He will need to develop another solid-average pitch to profile as a starter, but there is no reason to think he can’t be a big-league reliever if he just needs to remain a two-pitch pitcher.

Amid the uncertainty of his role moving forward, Stuart recently told SNY’s Chelsea Sherrod that he hopes to remain in the starting rotation.

“That’s what’s suited me best,” he said. “I’ve shown that I can be a starter and I want to continue to stick with it. I’m comfortable doing it, I like doing it. I like working deep into games, I feel like I’m a guy who gets better as I go.

“It’s about just staying on top of stuff between starts and going from there. I just have to stay consistent and keep doing what works.”

Stuart's certainly inserted his name into the conversation as a potential depth option for a pitching staff that needs all the reliable arms they can get moving forward. 

Whether that will be as a back-end of the rotation arm or out of the bullpen remains to be seen, but for now, Mets fans should keep an eye out for Stuart the next time he takes the mound in Binghamton.