As the New York Mets prepared to host the Houston Astros for a three-game series starting Friday, the team made an announcement on the No. 8-ranked pitching prospect in their organization.
Will Watson returned from a nearly four-month absence due to an oblique injury Thursday, and Double-A Binghamton immediately handed him the ball again.
The Mets’ No. 8 pitching prospect, per MLB Pipeline, missed nearly the entire summer, and how his stuff looks Thursday night will shape a decision the front office has been contemplating since May.
Binghamton activated Watson from the 60-day injured list Thursday and immediately penciled him in to start against the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium the same night. The Rumble Ponies made a companion move the same day, sending right-hander Saul Garcia up to Triple-A Syracuse.
Watson, 23, is a seventh-round pick out of the University of Southern California who signed for $281,300 in July 2024. He throws from a low three-quarters slot with a long, whippy arm action, and his fastball now sits 94-96 mph and touches 97, a jump from his college velocity that showed up almost as soon as he turned pro, according to Amazin’ Avenue, which ranks him the organization’s No. 9 prospect overall. A mid-80s slider is his primary weapon against right-handed hitters and a fading changeup handles lefties.
Will Watson’s Injury Return Timeline
The injury traces back to May 5, when Watson recorded two outs, gave up a grand slam and left that Hartford start with what became a season-altering oblique strain. Binghamton placed him on the 7-day injured list the next day, then shifted him to the 60-day list on July 27.
He worked back through rehab assignments at Single-A St. Lucie starting Aug. 2 and High-A Brooklyn starting Aug. 20, a path Watson’s Baseball Savant page shows produced mixed results, including a scoreless six innings across three St. Lucie outings, then a rough 2 1/3-inning stop in Brooklyn.
Before the injury, Watson’s season had already gone sideways. He opened 2026 back at Double-A and went 0-5 with an 8.55 ERA over six starts, walking 12 and striking out just 19 in 20 innings, with his velocity down from where it sat during his 2025 breakout. Binghamton’s staff framed the slump as a forced adjustment at the time. Without his best stuff, Watson had to pitch to contact instead of overpowering hitters.
Where Watson Ranks Among Mets Prospects
Watson’s prospect stock climbed fast before the setback. He opened 2025 at Single-A St. Lucie, reached High-A Brooklyn by June and finished the year at Double-A Binghamton, posting a combined 2.60 ERA with 142 strikeouts across 121 1/3 innings. That run included a nine-strikeout outing over 5 2/3 scoreless innings for Binghamton in September, one of his best showings of the year.
Watson, however, has posted a double-digit walk rate at every stop since turning pro, control issues that MLB Pipeline grades alongside a 45 overall grade. Sports Illustrated ranked him 16th in the system entering August, while SNY’s midseason list placed him 21st and noted his command must improve for him to have any MLB future, or even to continue as a starter. Otherwise, a bullpen role looks like the more realistic outcome.
The Mets have developed Watson as a starter since drafting him, even though he worked as a hybrid starter-reliever at the University of Southern California. Tonight is the first real look at where that projection stands, with September innings set to decide whether he heads into 2027 as rotation depth or bullpen protection.
Mets Announce Decision on No. 8 Ranked Pitching Prospect Before Astros Series