Robert Eckl Sr. and Robert Eckl Jr., Jack Wenninger’s grandfather and uncle, respectively, both played baseball at the University of Wisconsin, but Jack decided to not follow in their footsteps, instead committing to Murray State University after graduating from Cary-Grove Community High School in 2020. Wenninger’s numbers in his freshman season were only pedestrian, posting a 5.26 ERA 51.1 innings over 16 games with 46 hits allowed, 27 walks, and 42 strikeouts. He entered the transfer portal after the season and transferred
to the University of Illinois, where head coach Dan Hartleb saw promise in his size, increasing fastball velocity, and improving secondary pitches.
Overview
Name: Jack Wenninger
Position: RHP
Born: 03/14/2002 (Age 24 season in 2026)
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 210 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/R
Acquired: 2023 MLB Draft, 6th Round (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
2025 Stats: 26 G (26 GS), 135.2 IP, 114 H, 53 R, 44 ER (2.92 ERA), 42 BB, 147 K, .288 BABIP (Double-A)
The right-hander appeared in 15 games in his first season with the Fightin Ilini in 2022 and posted a 5.71 ERA in 34.2 innings over 15 appearances, allowing 30 hits, walking 21, and striking out 30. That summer, he pitched for the Wausau Woodchucks of the Northwoods League and posted a 2.54 ERA in 46.0 innings over 10 games- all starts- allowing 37 hits, walking 21, and striking out 42. He returned to Illinois for the 2023 season and became a mainstay the team’s weekend rotation. The right-hander appeared in 15 games, starting 14 of them, and posted a 4.59 ERA in 80.1 innings, allowing 69 hits, walking 28, and striking out 76.
Following the conclusion of the season, he pitched some supplementary innings with the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League. The right-hander made three starts there and allowed 6 earned runs over 11.0 innings while allowing 9 hits, walking 7, and striking out 19. In early July, the Mets drafted Wenninger in the 6th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, the 186th player selected overall, and signed him to a $225,000 signing bonus, below the MLB-assigned slot value of $299,800. Wenninger appeared in two combined games with the FCL Mets and the St. Lucie Mets to finish out his year and allowed 2 earned runs in 2.1 innings, giving up 1 hit, walking 2, and striking out 4.
Wenninger was assigned to the Single-A St. Lucie Mets to begin the 2024 season and struggled early on. The 22-year-old hurler appeared in 15 games for them, making 10 starts, and posted a 5.02 ERA in 71.2 innings, allowing 67 hits, walking 23, and striking out 89. He was promoted to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones in mid-July and finished out the season in Coney Island, having a much better go at it, assisted by the pitching friendly confines of Maimonides Park. Appearing in 10 games and making 9 starts, he posted a 3.12 ERA in 43.1 innings, allowing 40 hits, walking 17, and striking out 51. Altogether, he posted a combined 4.30 ERA in 115.0 innings in his first professional season, allowing 107 total hits, walking 40, and striking out 140; his 140 strikeouts were second-most in the entire Mets minor league system, trailing Jonah Tong and his 160 punchouts.
Promoted to Double-A Binghamton for the 2025 season, Wenninger was even better. Pitching in the shadows of more noteworthy prospects such as Nolan McLean, Joan Tong, and Brandon Sproat, Jack Wenninger was just as good, appearing in 26 games for the Rumble Ponies and posting a 2.92 ERA in 135.2 innings, allowing 114 hits, walking 42, and striking out 147. For a second consecutive year, his strikeout total was the second most in the system (tied with R.J. Gordon), behind Jonah Tong once again. The right-hander ended his season on as high a note as possible, shoving in the Eastern League Championship winner, throwing five innings and allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out a whopping eleven.
The 6’4”, 215-pound Wenninger has a high-waisted frame, throwing from a high-three-quarters arm slot with a simple delivery that utilizes a leg kick and a long arm action through the back. He gets good extension off the mound and keeps his upper and lower halves in sync. His arm is clean, loose, and repeatable, allowing him to consistently throw strikes and keep unintentional walks to a minimum.
The right-hander throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball, the latter used moreso against right-handed hitters to keep them honest with an offering that breaks towards them. Both fastballs sit in the low-to-mid-90s, with his four-seam fastball velocity up in 2025, topping out at 98 MPH on occasion but comfortably averaging 94 MPH. Thanks to his tall frame, extension, and high arm slot and release point, the pitch gets above-average ride up in the zone.
Wenninger’s main secondary offering is an extremely effective split change. The pitch is a plus offering, sitting in the low-to-mid-80s with a low spin rate that causes it to absolutely drop off the table. He can throw it in all four quadrants of the zone, throwing it up and letting it drop in for strikes and throwing it low and letting it drop out of the zone for chases and whiffs. He is comfortable throwing the pitch against left-handed and right-handed batters, the pitch’s horizontal movement breaking in on right-handed hitters in addition to its downward dive.
Coming into the 2025 season, Wenninger supplemented his fastball-changeup combo with a cutter, curveball, and slider that were all get-me-over offerings that flashed average, but he has refined his arsenal since. His cutter and slider, already brothers on the pitch spectrum, have melded into a single pitch, a tight mid-80s gyro slider. Using a different grip, his curveball now has more bite to it. Both breaking pitches are now average offerings, their effectiveness amplified by his ability to command them and throw them for strikes.
The improvements made to his arsenal have helped minimalize the reverse platoon splits that he was beginning to show. In 2024, right-handed hitters averaged a .262/.336/.409 batting line against him in 254 plate appearances, while left-handed hitters averaged .213/.275/.324 against him in 248 plate appearances, a difference of roughly .150 OPS points. In 2025, right-handed hitters averaged a .237/.280/.381 batting line against him in 321 plate appearances while left-handed hitters averaged .208/.294/.338 against him, a difference of roughly .030 OPS points. His batted ball data also has marginally improved, with his groundball and flyball rates both improving slightly.
2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List
11) Mitch Voit
12) Jonathan Santucci
13) Elian Peña
14) Zach Thornton
15) Nick Morabito
16) R.J. Gordon
17) Chris Suero
18) Dylan Ross
19) Ryan Lambert
20) Antonio Jimenez
21) Edward Lantigua
22) Eli Serrano III
23) Randy Guzman
24) Daiverson Gutierrez
25) Boston Baro
