First Half Record: 27-42 (6/6 Eastern League Northeast)
Second Half Record: 34-34 (4/6 Eastern League Northeast)
The 2025 Binghamton Rumble Ponies were a dominant team, winning a franchise-record 90 games (45 in the first half and 45 in the second half) during the regular season and capturing their fourth Eastern League championship after beating the Erie SeaWolves two games to one. The 2026 Binghamton Rumble Ponies were much less dominant, as much of the talent that had brought Binghamton’s championship had moved
on.
The team ended the first half of the season in last place, winning only 27 games, their worst stretch since the second half of the 2022 season, when the team won only 25 ballgames. Following the trade deadline, things picked up for Binghamton. Promotions and newly acquired talent prompted the Rumble Ponies to go on an incredible run in the second half that included a ten-game winning streak and saw the team set a new franchise high for most runs scored in a single nine-inning game (23).
At the end of August, the Rumble Ponies played a series against the Reading Fightin’ Phils with playoff implications. Coming into the series 2.5 games behind Reading, Binghamton lost the series four games to two, losing ground in the standings. They won their next series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to stay on Reading’s tail, but in the last week of the season the margins were simply too thin, and they were eliminated from playoff contention midway through the week.
TEAM MVP
Nick Lorusso: 84 G, 313 AB, .243/.319/.495, 76 H, 18 2B, 2 3B, 19 HR, 32 BB, 88 K, 9/10 SB, .274 BABIP
(Runner Up: Chris Suero)
A Monroe, Connecticut native, Nick Lorusso did not go far after graduating from Masuk High School, where he was a three-sport star in baseball, basketball, and football, attending Villanova University. He had an immediate impact for the Wildcats, becoming school’s first player in 25 years to be named Big East Freshman of the Year after hitting .302/.409/.425 with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 2 stolen and 28 walks to 31 strikeouts while simultaneously posting a 6.05 ERA in 41.2 innings on the mound with 59 hits allowed, 15 walks, and 32 strikeouts. His sophomore year, 2020, was a lost season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lorusso hurt himself even before the year was cancelled, and as a result, he only appeared in 10 games at the plate and made 3 appearances on the mound.
Fully healed when the 2021 season began, Lorusso continued building on his breakout freshman campaign, hitting .306/.380/.370 in 29 games with 4 doubles, 1 home run, 1 stolen base and 16 walks to 25 strikeouts. After going undrafted, the infielder entered the transfer portal hoping to find a program that could get him drafted by an MLB club. His Villanova career concluded, Lorusso hit a cumulative .294/.392/.392 in 88 games with the Wildcats, with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 3 stolen bases in as many attempts, and 52 walks to 62 strikeouts.
The infielder transferred to the University of Maryland for the 2022 season and the fourth-year junior ended up having a critical role on a team that scored the second-most runs in college baseball that year. Appearing in 62 games, the 21-year-old hit .322/.409/.562 with 17 doubles, 15 home runs, and 37 walks to 55 strikeouts, setting career highs in virtually every offensive category. He also contributed on the mound when called upon once again, posting a 6.52 ERA in 9.2 innings, allowing 11 hits, walking 4, and striking out 8. He played for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League that summer and then returned to Maryland. He had an equally impressive 2023, appearing in 61 games for the Terrapins, hitting .379/.446/.765 with 20 doubles, 2 triples, 26 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 34 walks to 46 strikeouts. His 105 RBI led the NCAA, and in just two seasons, he became the Maryland RBI career leader, driving in 175.
The Mets drafted Lorusso with their 9th round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, coming to terms with him for $50,000, well below the MLB-assigned slot value for the 276th overall pick, $175,100. The organization assigned him to Low-A St. Lucie and he appeared in 26 games for them, hitting .169 /.250/.270 with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 2 stolen bases in 3 attempts, and drawing 9 walks to 27 strikeouts. He was promoted to High-A Brooklyn to start the 2024 season and spent the first few months of the season there, hitting .267/.365/.469 in 70 games with 14 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, 8 stolen bases, and 40 walks to 61 strikeouts. He was promoted to Double-A Binghamton in mid-July, but his season came to an abrupt halt a few days later after he was hit by a fastball in the hand during an at-bat, breaking it. The 24-year-old remained in Binghamton when the 2025 season began and spent the entire year there. It was a down year for the infielder, as he hit .241/.312/.368 in 112 games with 29 doubles, 7 home runs, 8 stolen bases, and 41 walks to 108 strikeouts.
The organization had Lorusso remain in Binghamton to start the 2026 season and he had a better time adapting to Double-A pitching, appearing in 84 games for the Rumble Ponies and hitting .243/.319/.495 with 18 doubles, 2 triples, 19 home runs, 9 stolen bases, and 32 walks to 88 strikeouts. He was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse at the beginning of August and ended the season there, appearing in 29 games and hitting .217/.314/.337 with 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 5 stolen bases, and 11 walks to 24 strikeouts.
The 6’1”, 215-pound infielder stands square at the plate, crouching slightly and leaning out over the plate with his upper half, holding his hands high at the eyes and wrapping his bat behind his head angled at 1:30. He swings with a slight leg lift and very little load and weight transfer. Lorusso has “slider bat speed”, consistently performing well against breaking balls over the course of his career while enjoying less success against fastballs; he is able to fully extend and turn on slower pitches and tap into his power, but has less time to react and barrel fastballs. While he does strike out at an elevated rate, it is mostly due to his propensity to swing-and-miss at pitches outside of the zone; against pitches in the zone, Lorusso has shown the ability to make an exceptional amount of contact, though this includes a lot of poor in-zone contact, reflecting a low SEAGER score.
Defensively, Lorusso has spent most of his time on the field at third base, though he has also seen a significant amount of action at first base, and has even played a bit of second base this past season. A former pitcher whose arm can reach 90 MPH, he has the arm strength, accuracy, range and instincts to man the hot corner, but may eventually be forced off the position as he further matures with age loses some of that youthful athleticism.
TEAM CY YOUNG
Jonathan Santucci: 19 G (19 GS), 68 H, 42 R, 36 ER (3.57 ERA), 45 BB, 120 K, .314 BABIP
(Runner Up: Carlos Guzman)
Left-hander Jonathan Santucci was ranked 12th on the Amazin’ Avenue 2026 Mets Top 25 Prospects list this past off-season on the strength of a 2025 season that saw him post a 3.06 ERA in 117.2 cumulative innings with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones and the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. The former Duke standout, who was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the 2024 MLB Draft, had enjoyed a decent amount of success in the ACC, but professional baseball is a different beast from collegiate baseball, and Santucci transitioning so seamlessly was an exciting prospect.
The left-hander began the season with the Rumble Ponies, hoping to build on the successful 58.0 innings that he spent there in 2025, and certainly did. Appearing in 19 games, Santucci posted a 3.57 ERA in 90.2 innings, allowing 68 hits, walking 45, and striking out 120. Combined with his 2025 stats, the southpaw had a cumulative 3.20 ERA in 140.2 innings with Binghamton, allowing 101 hits, walking 63, and striking out 183.
At the beginning of August, the left-hander was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse and finished the season there. He struggled in his first few starts before settling in, and ended up posting a 5.24 ERA in 34.1 innings over 8 starts, allowing 34 hits, walking 21, and striking out 43.
With so many successful innings in Double-A under his belt and already pitching in Triple-A, it is only a matter of time before Santucci makes his MLB debut. The left-hander has the stuff to succeed in the majors, with an MLB-caliber fastball and an MLB-caliber slider, but the rest of his repertoire and his ability to command his pitches leaves a bit to desire. He complements his fastball-slider combination with a curveball and a changeup, and while neither are bad pitches, neither are particularly good either. Combined with the fact that the southpaw is likely going to need to refine his command in order to better match up against MLB bitters, and while Santucci’s call-up is not in doubt, his ultimate as a major leaguer role may be.
