In 2025, a lot of ink was spilled on Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, and understandably so. McLean started the season with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, posted a 1.37 ERA in 26.1 innings with them, then a 2.78 ERA in 87.1 innings with the Syracuse Mets, and then dazzled the baseball world with a 2.44 ERA in 48.0 innings at the major league level. Jonah Tong also started the season with Binghamton and posted a 1.76 ERA in 102.0 with them, then was promoted to Syracuse and did not allow a run in 11.2
innings, and then limped to the end of the season by posting a 7.71 ERA in 18.2 major league innings. A lot of people don’t realize this, but Jack Wenninger kept pace with both of them. Making 26 games for the Rumble Ponies, the right-hander posted a 2.92 ERA in 135.2 innings, allowing 114 hits, walking 42, and striking out 147 batters- tied for second most in the Mets minor league system in 2016 with R.J. Gordon.
Wenninger was drafted in the 6th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the 186th player selected overall. At the time, he was an unheralded right-hander and one of a large group of day two pitchers that included Kade Morris, Wyatt Hudepohl, Austin Troesser, Zach Thornton, and Noah Hall (and Nolan McLean, though he was still a two-way player at the time and not a full-time pitcher). Unlike that other group of pitchers (once again excluding McLean), Wenninger has rocketed up past his peers, landing at 10 on Amazin’ Avenue’s 2026 Top 25 Prospects list.
As an amateur, and prior to the 2025 season, the right-hander got by using a low-90s fastball, an above-average split changeup, and a fringy slider, cutter, and curveball. This past season, Wenninger added a little bit of velocity to his fastball, refined his cutter and slider- morphing the two into a sharper gyro slider- and began using a different curveball grip to give the pitch more bite. Both breaking balls are now average offerings, supplementing an average fastball and an above-average changeup. Tying his overall pitching abilities together, the right-hander is able to reliably command all four.
Where Wenninger fits into the Mets’ pitching puzzle in the immediate future is unclear. While the pitching rotation as it stands now certainly has plenty of volatility in terms of health and performance, Wenninger is so far down in the depth chart that he is likely a non-factor in 2026 unless something catastrophic happens with the starting rotation. A non-roster invitee to spring training, in addition to having to clear a spot on the 40-man roster to activate him, youngsters with MLB experience such as Tobias Myers, Jonah Tong, Christian Scott are likely ahead of Wenninger in the depth chart, with veterans such as Justin Hagenman and Jonathan Pintaro in contention for spot starts as well. As with any pitcher, he could be shifted into the bullpen, but a spot on the 40-man and active roster would need to be made for him. Regardless of his performance, Wenninger likely has his ticket stamped for Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season.
