How Mets slugger Ryan Clifford has become one of the best prospects in baseball

Ryan Clifford is someone who has played high-profile baseball since the age of 12. He was on the 12U national team and went to Taiwan where they won a gold medal. He was also on national teams for 13U, 14U and 15U. Frankly, if there was a showcase event for amateurs, Clifford was probably there.

Clifford, my No. 4 prospect in the system, committed to Vanderbilt University -- one of the most prominent baseball programs in the country -- in November of 2020, almost two years before he was to graduate high school while at the Pro5 Academy and Crossroads FLEX high school in Cary, North Carolina.

“I’ve always dreamed of being a professional baseball player,” Clifford told SNY. “Even before high school, I knew that it was something I had the chance to make a career out of. As far as Vanderbilt, I wanted the best baseball opportunity if pro ball were not to work out right away.”

Heading into the 2022 MLB Draft, Clifford was ranked as the No. 92 overall prospect in the class by MLB Pipeline. Typically, when a high school prospect who is regarded that highly does not get picked within the first two to four rounds, they often end up attending college instead of signing for less money than they and their advisor project for themselves.

As the draft went on, Clifford was not selected in the top 10 rounds. Most, including Clifford in the middle of day two of the draft, was pretty confident he was going to end up at Vanderbilt.

“We then got a call from Houston giving us a heads up that an offer was coming,” Clifford said. “I understand the slot values and how if you go after round 10 there can be some over-slot deals. Once they offered and it was in the range I was looking for, I knew Houston was going to be the place where I was going to start my professional career.”

Clifford ended up signing with Houston for $1,256,530, which equated to a second-round value between the 58th and 59th overall pick. This ended up being the second-highest bonus that Houston issued in the 2022 draft, behind only first-round pick Drew Gilbert.

At 19 years old, Clifford started his professional career with Low-A Fayetteville in the Astros system. He forced Houston’s hand to promote him after slashing .337/.488/.457 with five doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI in 25 games. The power broke out in a big way when he moved into a more hitter-friendly environment of High-A Asheville, where he hit 16 home runs and drove in 46 in 58 games. He was emerging quickly as a top prospect in the Astros system.

Then last Aug. 1, the Mets had already traded away Max Scherzer and others. Up next was Justin Verlander, who, after a conversation with Mets ownership and the front office, had a desire to end up back in Houston. Just over a year after signing his first pro contract, Clifford was being traded, along with Gilbert, to the Mets for Verlander.

“I had a pretty good idea that Verlander and Houston were pretty tight and that there’d be a good chance he wanted to go back there, so I wasn’t caught off guard by it,” Clifford said. “I didn’t know what to think at the time. I was intrigued and interested, and at the end of the day it was a cool thing to happen, and I am glad to be here with the Mets.”

After joining the Mets organization, Clifford finished 2023 and began 2024 with High-A Brooklyn. Going to a Cyclones game is one of the best experiences in all of minor league baseball. However, with it being on the end of the Coney Island boardwalk and the wind coming in off the water, Brooklyn can be a tough place for left-handed power hitters to perform. That at times has frustrated hitters, but Clifford had a different perspective.

“If you let it get to your head it could be frustrating, but for me, looking back, I am not going to care what my numbers were in High-A," Clifford said. "It’s just another step in the road.”

The Mets were impressed with Clifford’s plan at the plate as well as his batted ball data in Brooklyn. Despite a .216/.412/.304 slash line with only one home run, the Mets promoted the 20-year-old to Double-A Binghamton. The feeling in the organization was that he was mature enough as a hitter to handle Double-A pitching, and they thought he could get better results at the next level.

Double-A was an adjustment for Clifford. In his first two weeks with Binghamton, he hit .143/.276/.286 with one home run in 15 games. Often, the jump From Single-A to Double-A is considered the biggest one for a minor leaguer, since pitchers can better locate secondary pitches and have more of an established plan on the mound.

Since June 1 (37 games), Clifford has looked much more comfortable, hitting .270/.405/.635 (1.040 OPS) with 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 30 RBI.

From a skill-set standpoint, Clifford has a plus eye at the plate and plus power to all fields. He consistently posted high exit velocities while hitting the ball in the air (line drive or fly ball) on 72.1 percent of his batted balls in Double-A. Scouts say he can stand to be more aggressive early in counts, as at times he misses hittable pitches while trying to work the count.

Of late, the batting average has been better, but he is still hitting .234 on the year. That doesn’t really concern the process-oriented Clifford, who says “I am hitting the ball pretty hard right now, so if I can continue to do that they will fall more often.”

Defensively, he has split time between first base and the corner outfield spots. He is a below-average athlete, but he has an above-average arm that has played in the outfield. Most scouts believe that he looks best and most comfortable at first base and anticipate that as his most likely long-term defensive home.

Clifford has emerged as one of the Mets' best prospects as well as one of the better prospects in the sport. He is ranked as the No. 70 prospect in baseball in MLB Pipeline’s latest top 100 prospect ranking.

He has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order 25-30 home run threat while posting strong on-base percentage numbers. In a year where there have been injuries to some of the top-hitting prospects in the system (Jett Williams, Gilbert, and Ronny Mauricio), Clifford has stood out in a way that has Mets people looking at him potentially as a piece of their future.