Will Watson inherited athletic genes from his father, Brad, who played football for Puget Sound University, and baseball skill from his stepfather, Pat, who played baseball at Pacific Lutheran University.
He attended Burlington Edison High School in Burlington, Washington, where he played varsity baseball for three seasons, as well as basketball and cross-country track. He earned Washington All-State honors in his senior season in 2021, posting a 0.24 ERA in 29.2 innings with 57 strikeouts. He went undrafted and after graduating and attended California Lutheran University in 2022, where he posted a 1.82 ERA in 34.2 innings with 18 hits allowed, 13 walks, and 40 strikeouts. Additionally, he appeared in 36 games as an infielder and hit .247/.346/.371 with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 0 home runs, 4 stolen bases in 5 attempts, and drew 10 walks to 29 strikeouts.
He transferred from Cal Lutheran and attended San Joaquin Delta College in 2023, appearing in 19 games for them, starting five. He posted a 2.97 ERA in 57.2 innings for the Mustangs, allowing 31 hits, walking 21, and striking out 82. The Seattle Mariners selected the right-hander in the 20th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, the 607th player selected overall, but he elected not to sign with his hometown club. Instead, he transferred to the University of Southern California for his junior season. He appeared in 16 games for the Trojans, starting 9, and posted a 3.93 ERA in 50.1 innings with 44 hits allowed, 27 walks, and 46 strikeouts. The Mets selected Watson with their 7th round selection in the 2024 draft, the 203rd pick overall, and signed him for $281,300, just slightly below the MLB-assigned slot value of $283,800. He was assigned to the St. Lucie Mets and allowed one run in 2.2 innings, giving up 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 3.
Based on his pitching profile, Amazin’ Avenue ranked Watson the Mets’ 22nd top prospect coming into the 2025 season and the right-hander did not disappoint. Initially assigned to the Single-A St. Lucie Mets, Watson posted a 3.66 ERA in 39.1 innings, allowing 30 hits, walking 21, and striking out 43. He was promoted to High-A Brooklyn at the beginning of June and spent most of the summer in Coney Island, posting a 1.70 ERA in 63.2 innings, allowing 45 hits, walking 28, and striking out 77. At the end of August, he was promoted to Double-A Binghamton and ended the year with the Rumble Ponies, posting a 3.44 ERA in 18.1 innings, allowing 13 hits, walking 9, and striking out 22. All in all, the 22-year-old posted a cumulative 2.60 ERA in 121.1 innings over 28 games- 23 starts- allowing 88 hits, walking 58, and striking out 142.
Watson is slightly on the smaller side for a pitcher, standing 6’1” and weighing 180-pounds, but he is athletic. The right-hander throws from a low-three-quarters arm slot with a long, whippy arm action through the back. He drops and drives and gets good extension off the mound but is prone to rushing his delivery and having his upper and lower halves come out of sync and flying out early, negatively impacting his command. While not violent per se, Watson also throws with effort, which could be a health concern in the future given his stature and also can negatively impact his command.
Watson utilizes a five-pitch mix, throwing a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, circle changeup, slider and cutter. He primarily relies on his fastball and slider combo, liberally sprinkling in his changeup, cutter, and sinker depending on the batter and the situation he finds himself in. He works better east-to-west on the strength of his slider, his command sometimes negatively affecting his ability to work in the upper parts of the strike zone with his four-seam fastball or the bottom of it with his changeup.
His four-seam fastball is an above-average pitch at present. Watson experienced a bit of a velocity boost upon going pro, something he attributes to having access to professional workout equipment and elite coaching, and the pitch now sits comfortably in the mid-90s rather than the low-to-mid-90s, topping out at 97 MPH. With above-average spin rates, Watson has been able to regularly post slightly above-average induced vertical break measurements with the pitch as well as slightly above-average run, though working up in the zone to take advantage of that rising life has not been intuitive for Watson, whose arm slot and command problems cause the pitch to play down up in the zone. His two-seam fastball sits in the same velocity band and is almost identical to his four-seam fastball except for the extra arm-side run that it has.
Watson’s slider is his primary strikeout pitch against right-handed batters. Sitting in the mid-80s, his slider has also seen a slight velocity bump since turning pro and has improved from a fringe average offering to a slightly above-average pitch as a result. While not his best secondary pitch, it is his go-to, featuring sharp gyroscopic break recently tightened up by his 2025 velocity gains, improving its shape. The right-hander is able to throw the pitch to both sides of the plate, backfooting it to left-handed hitters and throwing it away to right-handed hitters. Watson’s cutter, in a vacuum, is a below-average pitch, having recently learned it from fellow farmhand Joel Pintaro over the winter, but when used in conjunction with his slider, is an effective combination, as the cutter sets up the slider.
His circle changeup is his primary strikeout pitch against left-handed hitters. The pitch sits in the upper-80s, also slightly up as compared to his college days. With a high spin rate for a changeup, it has less tumble than average, but a lot more arm-side fade. Like his slider, Watson can throw it to both sides of the plate, generally working down in the zone.
2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List
10) Jack Wenninger
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
