Mets prospect Dylan Ross still hitting 100 mph after 2 elbow operations

New York Times

08-07-2025

At 6 feet, 5 inches and 250 pounds, Dylan Ross is 'an absolute horse,' New York Mets senior vice president for player development Andy Green says.
Just a few months into his first professional season, Ross has raced from High A to Triple A, with a big-league promotion looking like a distinct possibility at some point by the homestretch.
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Ross, a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, possesses one of the hardest fastballs in the Mets' farm system. He has hit 102 mph. There have been a few 101 mph readings, too.
When overwhelming velocity isn't enough, Ross unleashes a low-90s splitter that multiple evaluators referred to as 'real.' He also throws a slider and a curveball.
In 28 1/3 innings across three levels, Ross has a 2.54 ERA with 52 strikeouts and 16 walks (in 6 1/3 innings at Triple A, he has a 1.42 ERA with 11 strikeouts and five walks).
Dylan Ross averaged 100.4 mph on his fastball in his scoreless inning for the @RumblePonies yesterday. 🔥
Across Single-A and Double-A this season, he has a 1.32 ERA and 25 strikeouts across 13.2 IP. pic.twitter.com/ka2f45W3XB
— Mets Player Development (@MetsPlayerDev) May 19, 2025
If his secondary pitches and control improve, Ross has a shot at one day becoming a late-inning power reliever. It's been a while since the Mets developed one of those. Meanwhile, Ross continues to pass tests, which encourages club officials. Last week, the Mets challenged Ross with a major-league workload, pitching him three times in a five-day span. In 3 2/3 innings, he allowed just one hit (no walks) and racked up seven strikeouts.
When it comes to navigating all the newness the Mets keep dishing out to him, Ross' stuff, as good as it may be, comes second to his story. He draws on his background. His prior resilience shapes his perspective.
If two elbow surgeries couldn't stop him, what will?
'It's really, really impressive,' Green said.
Five years ago, Ross' fastball peaked at 93 mph while at Eastern Kentucky University. But then the COVID-19 pandemic forced Ross to conduct throwing sessions at home in Statesboro, Ga. Two months later, a radar gun insisted he was at 97 mph. So, Ross' father, Tony, packed up the device and shipped it back to the manufacturer to verify the accuracy.
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'I just thought it was funny, so I didn't mind at all,' Ross said. 'I thought it could've possibly been a little hot. But at the same time, it felt accurate with how the ball was coming out.'
The radar gun worked just fine. Ross never returned to EKU, though he credited the coaching staff there for helping his mechanics, which put the higher velocity readings into motion. Later in 2020, he played in the Florida Collegiate Summer League, where he threw as hard as 98 mph. By then, he popped up on many amateur scouts' radars.
While playing for Northwest Florida State College, Ross reached 100 mph. The buzz got real. Baseball America tabbed him as high as No. 114 on its list of the top 500 prospects for the 2021 draft. Such projections put him as a third-round pick.
Instead, Ross decided to enroll at the University of Georgia, where he had visions of becoming a first-round selection.
Never happened.
'Second outing,' he said, 'the UCL was no longer with us.'
Ross underwent Tommy John surgery on March 15, 2022 — he remembers the exact date. Around that time, though, his cousin Will Childers, who was also at Georgia and is now a pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers' farm system, needed a second Tommy John surgery. Childers' predicament, Ross said, put things into perspective.
'There was never any sort of doubt of, oh, is this the plan God has for me?' Ross said. 'It never changes. That was just a part of it. I thought, 'Things could be worse.''
Despite being sidelined, the Mets still liked Ross. Their fondness for him stretches back to Ross' time in high school, when he played his final two seasons at Georgia Premier Academy. Back then, they liked his size and physicality, but figured he needed time to develop. The Mets waited, though they never could've known how much patience would be required.
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In 2022, area scout Marlin McPhail and director of amateur scouting Drew Toussaint watched Ross pitch before the injury. In the front office, Mets senior manager of baseball analytics integration Joe Lefkowitz was a key supporter. They liked Ross' movements for a bigger man and his velocity, and his pitch boosted their belief that he could continue to develop.
By the time of the draft, the Mets decided to buy low on someone they thought was a top-five round prospect.
They picked him in the 13th round.
'It wasn't fully up to me who drafted me,' Ross said, 'but we had a relationship with those guys, and it was a massive blessing to go into the rehab with them.'
About a year later, Ross had just one more week left before getting clearance to face batters when he said he 'felt something small.' He didn't think much of it. After all, he felt different things throughout the rehab process. He communicated as much to the Mets while in Florida. The next day, he was preparing to throw when someone stopped him and asked, 'What are you doing?'
Ross replied, 'What do you mean?'
The person then told him he was going to West Palm Beach for an MRI.
Inside an office, a doctor told Ross that the top of his ligament was healthy and strong. Ditto for the bottom. Before the doctor's next sentence, Ross pointed out that the doctor had skipped the middle part of the ligament. Indeed. That's where there was a high-grade strain.
It was 2023 and after nearly reaching the finish line of his rehab process, Ross learned he needed a UCL revision surgery.
'It rocked me for a second,' Ross said. 'But I was like, 'Well, I guess it was bound to happen again.' Like, it obviously wasn't the easiest news to hear. But it was a lot easier than the first one, because it's like, OK, well, I've experienced it.
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'I had gone through the entire process pretty much. I knew things that I could have done better. I knew things that I could have maybe slowed down a little bit on certain parts. So it was, 'OK, I'm a lot more prepared for this.' It was like, 'Let's do it the best way possible that we can.''
Ross credited the Mets' staff, specifically minor-league rehab pitching coach Jeremy Kivel and minor-league physical therapist Alex Gough, among others, as instrumental in getting him back to the mound. He put more trust into pacing, limitations and rest. It's paying off.
Ross says he enjoys monotony. He needed to lean on that taste heavily over the last couple of years. He also appreciates the art of pitching and likes learning more about pitch shapes and designs. Ross said he 'fell in love' with making small adjustments. It's coming in handy.
The Mets have used 33 pitchers this season. The total ballooned over the past month as the club navigated a storm of injuries and went through a batch of marginal relievers. They are still searching for one who pops up in an unexpected way, as Dedniel Núñez did a year ago. Could it be Ross? It's not nearly as much of a long shot as it once was.
'This whole season is a compilation of a ton of firsts,' Ross said. 'First spring training. First year relieving. First, I guess, professional season. It hasn't necessarily been the easiest thing, but it's just something where I put my faith in God that this is where I'm supposed to be, what I'm supposed to do. And so I guess it's more up to me to kind of face it and whatever comes next.'