Latest news with #RumblePonies
New York Times
08-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Mets prospect Dylan Ross still hitting 100 mph after 2 elbow operations
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. Advertisement 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. — 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. Advertisement '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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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.'
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mets prospect Jonah Tong strikes out eight for Binghamton, Nolan McLean solid with Syracuse
Jonah Tong continues to rise up the ranks of Mets prospects with his performance in Double-A this season, and Friday was another quality outing for the right-hander. Tong struck out eight batters across six innings while allowing one run on three hits and three walks. While Tong didn't come away with the win, the Rumble Ponies pulled out the 3-1 win on Friday against Portland. Advertisement After Friday's start, Tong lowered his ERA slightly to a season-low 1.73 and has pitched to a minuscule 0.93 ERA in the month of June (five starts). In those five June starts, Tong has struck out at least eight batters in four of them. Behind Tong, the offense was solid, accumulating eight hit,s including one from Jett Williams and two from Carson Benge. Benge made his fourth start with Double-A Binghamton on Friday and after going hitless in his first two games, he's now had at least one knock in back-to-back games. It's also notable that Benge, despite his two hitless games, has reached back in all four games with Binghamton as he's picked up five walks in that span. Checking in with Triple-A Syracuse, Nolan McLean continues his rise up the Mets' farm system with another solid start on Friday. Advertisement Although he took the loss, McLean was sharp, allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks across six innings of work. He also struck out four batters. In nine appearances (seven starts) with Syracuse, McLean has pitched to a 2.72 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. While he has not been a strikeout machine (45 strikeouts across 49.2 innings) in Triple-A, he has the potential to be better. Before being promoted, McLean struck out 30 batters in 26.1 innings with Binghamton. Behind McLean, the offense was quiet. Syracuse picked up just one run on six hits and the litany of hitters with major league experience all went hitless. Luisangel Acuña finished 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout, while Francisco Alvarez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. The former Mets backstop is hitless in five games (0-for-14).
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rumble Ponies' Tong earns Eastern League Pitcher of the Month in May
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) — New York Mets pitching prospect Jonah Tong dominated his way to Eastern League Pitcher of the Month in May with perfection, strikeouts, and more strikeouts. The 21-year-old Top-100 MLB prospect finished the month with a 1.35 ERA, .90 WHIP, .122 batting average against, and 42 strikeouts in five starts. Tong notably nearly completed a seven-inning perfect game against Reading on May 10, but exited with 6 2/3 perfect innings and 13 strikeouts before the perfecto was finished off. Tong, New York's No. 4 prospect, is the first Rumble Ponies pitcher to win the award since Dom Hamel in 2023. The fireballer has come into his own as both a pitcher and a professional since being drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Amateur Draft. On top of a stellar May, Tong began his summer with five innings of no-hit baseball against Somerset on June 4, tallying 11 strikeouts in the process. The Rumble Ponies, as of June 5, are rolling along on a winning streak that has reached 11 games— the longest such streak since the B-Mets in 2006. Binghamton currently sits in first place in the Eastern League (35-17). Tong, among a wide majority of young arms in the Mets organization, is beginning to sparkle under the lights of scouts and prospect ranking outlets across the country for the work being displayed. The Mets' farm system currently has the lowest combined ERA across all of the affiliate teams (St. Lucie, Brooklyn, Binghamton, and Syracuse) among any organization in MLB. Tong also has the second-most strikeouts in all of Minor League Baseball with 83, in just 49 innings pitched. Maine-Endwell Softball returns to State Tournament President Trump meets with German chancellor Average 401(k) balance fell 3% in first quarter: Fidelity Can you still visit the countries listed under Trump's travel ban? Procter & Gamble cutting thousands of jobs in wake of Trump tariffs Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rumble Ponies to honor veterans, active service members this weekend
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Military Appreciation Weekend is coming up at Mirabito Stadium, and the Rumble Ponies have some special deals and events planned for active and retired military service members. Both active and retired personnel can receive two complimentary tickets to any of the three games this weekend, May 23 to May 25, by showing their ID at the Visions Federal Credit Union Starting Gate Box Office. On Friday, May 23, 'Grace Good: Girl on Fire' will bring her acrobatic skills to Mirabito Stadium as entertainment, and there will be 'patriotic-themed' fireworks following the game. On Saturday, May 24, the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a camouflage Rumble Ponies hat. 'Military Appreciation Weekend serves as a meaningful opportunity to express our deep gratitude. We're proud to partner with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies to offer a small token of thanks for all they've done for our country, celebrated through America's favorite pastime,' Mirabito Energy Products Director of Marketing and Communications, Marissa Sweeney, said. Mirabito has been a sponsor of Military Appreciation Weekend since 2017. Possible measles exposure reported at Shakira concert in New Jersey Section IV Lacrosse Brackets Released for 2025 Bills to be featured team on Hard Knocks in training camp $22M available for NY municipalities to fight climate change Trump confronts South African leader with 'white genocide' accusations Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Oliver thrillingly revealed minor league team he's full-on rebranding
John Oliver is wading into minor league baseball, which should be absolutely hilarious. The Last Week Tonight host used some of his airtime a few weeks ago to give a shoutout to minor league teams that have wild names like Rumble Ponies and which have some fun promotions. And in the most recent episode he gave an update on his offer: he wants to rebrand a minor league team with a new name, mascot and theme night, "as long as they ... promise to do whatever we told them." So we now know the team that he's choosing to rebrand out of the 47 (!) franchises that reached out: it's ... the Erie Seawolves! This is the most exciting! Watch this thrilling announcement: Just went you think this Detroit Tigers season couldn't get any more fun, you find out John Oliver is re-branding the Erie Seawolves with a new name, mascot and theme night 👌🏻 — Ron W (@FIPmyWHIP) May 19, 2025 John Oliver on @LastWeekTonight: Minor League Baseball is clearly both incredibly special and inescapably stupid in the very best spot on if you ask us 🤣 — Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 19, 2025 Can't wait. This article originally appeared on For The Win: John Oliver minor league team rebrand revealed on Last Week Tonight
