The New York Mets have won three of their last four games, including a 10-6 win in the opener of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
Before the second game, the Mets announced a dual decision on two recent draft picks in the lower levels of the organization.
New York promoted right-handers Alex Petrovic and Luke McNeillie to Low-A St. Lucie on Saturday, with two games left in the Single-A Florida State League season.
Both pitchers signed six weeks ago and had not worked outside the rookie-level Florida Complex League, leaving each of them a two-day window against full-season hitters before the year closes.
The assignments appear on MiLB.com‘s official transaction log for Petrovic and on the same log for McNeillie, both dated Sept. 5.
St. Lucie hosts Jupiter at 6:10 p.m. Saturday and shuts down the Florida State League regular season Sunday at 12:10 p.m., both at Clover Park, according to CBS12‘s St. Lucie schedule listing.
Neither pitcher has an official stat line yet. Both official pages still list no stats, which is ordinary for July signees whose complex work is light or unposted.
McNeillie and Petrovic Bring Contrasting Profiles
Luke Charles McNeillie is 21, born March 17, 2005, in Milton, Georgia, and listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds. The Mets took him in the fifth round, No. 152 overall, out of Florida.
McNeillie was a 2026 Baseball America Second Team Preseason All-American and a Preseason First Team All-SEC selection, according to his official University of Florida biography. Then his junior season brought a setback. He made 18 appearances, three of them starts, and went 3-0 with a 3.97 ERA, one save and 48 strikeouts against 17 walks in 34 innings, according to a draft report at 247Sports.
His fastball has reached 97 mph and plays off a hard mid-80s slider, according to GatorCountry‘s scouting breakdown. Control is what pushed him to Round 5.
His MLB Pipeline report called his “command in and out of the zone” spotty at Florida, as quoted by Sports Illustrated coverage. Pipeline slotted him No. 185 in the class. He signed July 20 for $497,500, roughly $25,000 above slot, according to Baseball America.
Alexander Petrovic is 22, born May 27, 2004, in Cypress, Texas, and listed at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds. He went in the sixth round, No. 181 overall, out of Auburn. His parents, Rachelle and Zeljko, played basketball at Oberlin College, and his sister Kate played at Loyola University New Orleans, according to the Auburn Tigers.
Elbow trouble wiped out two springs. Then 2026 arrived: 10-2 with a 3.21 ERA over 17 starts, 92 strikeouts and 24 walks in 92 2/3 innings, a top-five ERA among Southeastern Conference starters, according to the Auburn Observer‘s May profile.
He threw a complete-game shutout against Kentucky in April and took SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
“I felt like I was in control,” Petrovic said, according to Auburn’s game recap.
Mets Timing Behind Petrovic and McNeillie Promotions
The Florida Complex League season is over. The Florida State League is not. That gap explains the calendar.
Both reported to the FCL Mets on July 20 and were activated July 29. St. Lucie was the only affiliate still playing once the complex schedule expired.
New York is not stretching either workload. McNeillie logged 34 innings as a junior. Petrovic finally survived a full spring at 92 2/3. Two September appearances will not change that.
St. Lucie sits 13 games out in the Florida State League East second half and has no playoff stake, so the standings protect nothing. What the organization buys is one look apiece at full-season umpires and a professional lineup before instructional league opens.
Mets Announce Decision on 2 Players in Organization Before Giants Game