Mets Announce Key Pitching Decision Before Red Sox Game

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The Mets announced a key pitching decision before facing the Red Sox. Here's what the move means and why New York made it.

The New York Mets are turning back to Zach Thornton, recalling the left-hander from Triple-A Syracuse to start Sunday against the Boston Red Sox at Citi Field.

It will be the 24-year-old’s third career big league outing, arriving just as New York’s rotation runs out of healthy, effective arms about two weeks before the trade deadline. The Mets take on the Red Sox Saturday in the middle game of a three-game inter-league set heading into the All-Star break.

Zach Thornton’s Winding Road to Queens

GettyZach Thornton #49 of the New York Mets.

Born Zachary Charles Thornton on January 17, 2002, in Winona, Minnesota, the 6-foot-3 lefty pitched at Lawrence Free State High School in Kansas before landing at Barton Community College, then transferring to Grand Canyon University. There, he posted a 3.87 ERA across 88 1/3 innings in his lone Division I season, striking out 91 batters against just 18 walks.

The Mets took him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, 159th overall, signing him for $350,000, below the assigned slot value. Thornton didn’t pitch that summer. He debuted in 2024 instead, working through St. Lucie and Brooklyn before a dominant 2025 stretch with a 1.98 ERA across 72.2 innings between Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. But his season was cut short by an oblique injury.

New York called him up for the first time on May 20 to start against the Nationals, choosing him over higher-ranked prospects Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger. Then-manager Carlos Mendoza explained the thinking at the time.

“We like him as a lefty against this lineup, his ability to throw strikes, his pitchability,” Mendoza told reporters before that Nationals start. Mendoza was fired in late June, replaced by interim manager Andy Green.

The Mets enter the weekend at 40-55, and their rotation is a big reason why. Freddy Peralta has struggled to a below-average ERA, Sean Manaea has been pushed to relief work, Kodai Senga was moved to the bullpen after an ERA north of 10.00, and David Peterson was traded to the Cubs. Green’s staff simply needs someone who won’t beat himself with walks, and Thornton’s polish fits that role better than live-armed but wilder alternatives still developing in the minors.

Thornton has cooperated. Since the start of last season, he’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in 19 of 21 starts, and he tuned up for this recall with two perfect innings and five strikeouts in his most recent Syracuse outing.

None of his pitches grade as elite alone. Amazin’ Avenue‘s prospect analysis described a five-pitch mix built around a mid-80s slider, backed by two fastball variations in the low-to-mid-90s, a curveball and an occasional changeup. The strength is locating all of them, which is exactly what a taxed staff needs from a fill-in right now.

As for the Red Sox lending themselves to a lefty matchup, the numbers argue otherwise. Boston actually ranks first in all of baseball in OPS against left-handed pitching this season, at .786, according to Screwball‘s team splits data.