Mets Announce Decision on 23-Year-Old Pitcher Before Brewers Game

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The Mets announced good news involving a 23-year-old pitcher ahead of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The New York Mets los to take a series from the team with the best record in MLB, the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday at Citi Field.

The Mets won the series opener 3-2 in 10 innings before dropping a lopsided 8-1 decision on Wednesday.

Before the Brewers finale, the Mets had a positive announcement on a 23-year-old pitching prospect who has worked his way through the organization’s system, for the past six years.

The New York Mets promoted right-hander Saul Garcia from the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies to Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, a transaction announced amidts a batch of minor-league moves that also activated reliever Will Watson off the injured list.

The move puts the two-pitch, power-armed reliever one level from Citi Field. The Mets have offered no explanation for the timing of Garcia’s promotion, though Binghamton had recently held one of its own relievers out of action, opening a workload window that made Garcia’s next step obvious to prospect watchers who track the farm system closely.

Saul Garcia’s Winding Road to Triple-A Syracuse

Garcia signed with the Mets as an international free agent on June 12, 2021, out of Naguanagua, Venezuela, and was assigned to the Dominican Summer League that August. His signing bonus was never publicly disclosed among the club’s headline-grabbing bonuses from that international class.

He didn’t pitch much as a teenager and didn’t sign until close to his 18th birthday, a late bloomer by international-signing standards. Garcia worked as a starter through his first four pro seasons before the Mets shifted him into the bullpen last year, and the results followed almost immediately. He struck out 76 batters over 47 2/3 innings between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton in 2025, posting a 1.70 ERA and six saves before earning a late-season promotion to Binghamton that August. He also picked up an Arizona Fall League assignment with the Scottsdale Scorpions that fall, a typical proving ground for arms the organization wants to see against advanced competition.

This year brought a bigger workload and a bumpier ride. Garcia logged 44 appearances and 49 2/3 innings for the Rumble Ponies, striking out 66 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP, according to stats tracked by Baseball Savant. He also spent this past offseason pitching for Navegantes del Magallanes in Venezuela’s winter league, sharpening the same fastball-slider combination the Mets are testing now against older hitters.

Wilmer Flores’ Cousin Brings a Swing-and-Miss Arm

Garcia isn’t just another org arm. He’s the first cousin of longtime big leaguer Wilmer Flores, and the families lived together for a stretch of Garcia’s childhood in northern Venezuela. Flores called his younger cousin a “great kid” who is “very centered,” as quoted by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

The stuff backs up the pedigree. Garcia’s four-seamer sits in the mid-90s with tail, and his slider, an upper-80s pitch with sharp 12-to-6 break, has generated an elite whiff rate this season, according to pitch-tracking data published by Brooks Baseball. Both pitches also play as extreme fly-ball offerings, which helps explain the eight home runs Garcia has allowed across his 49 2/3 innings this year.

Garcia never cracked MLB Pipeline‘s or Baseball America’s organizational Top 30 lists, and his highest published ranking is No. 42 on Prospects1500’s 2026 Mets Top 50, a fourth-tier grade the outlet reserves for potential sleepers. Metsmerized Online included him among a group of relief prospects who could help the big-league bullpen in 2026, and he was Rule 5-eligible last offseason, meaning other organizations already had a chance to notice the strikeout numbers if they wanted to.

That profile fits what the Mets appear to want from him, namely a multi-inning relief option who can miss bats against advancing competition. Syracuse will be the proving ground. If Garcia’s strikeout rate holds against more advanced hitters, a September look — or a 2027 relief job — becomes a realistic next step for the Venezuelan-born reliever.