Mets promote A.J. Ewing to Triple-A after torrid Double-A start

A.J. Ewing kept forcing the issue at Double-A Binghamton, and the Mets finally moved him to Triple-A Syracuse after a start that turned 18 games into a full-scale audition. The 21-year-old center fielder, New York’s No. 3 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 85 overall, arrived in Syracuse on Monday with a .349/.481/.571 line, two home runs, 12 stolen bases and a 181 wRC+.

That production was not just loud, it was complete. Ewing led Mets minor league qualifiers in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks with 17 and steals with 12 while showing the same quick-impact skill set that has made him one of the organization’s fastest risers. He also ranked fourth in stolen bases across the minors last year, a reminder that speed is not a tool so much as a calling card. The left-handed hitter, who throws right-handed, is listed at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, but the power spike in Binghamton added another layer to a profile built first on contact, strike-zone control and pressure on the bases.

The Mets drafted Ewing in 2023 with the 134th overall pick in the compensatory round they received after Jacob deGrom left in free agency, and he signed for $675,000 out of Springboro High School in Ohio. His climb since then has been steep enough to make Triple-A feel like the first real checkpoint rather than the finish line. He moved three levels in 2025, went from outside the Mets’ top 30 prospects to a consensus top-100 name and entered 2025 as the club’s No. 28 prospect before surging again.

Now Syracuse becomes the level that will say the most about how close Ewing is to Queens. Double-A pitchers can get exposed by speed and a hot week at the plate; Triple-A arms are older, more polished and far less likely to help with mistakes. If Ewing’s on-base skill and aggressive but controlled approach travel immediately, the Mets will know his breakout is more than a small-sample surge.

That test begins quickly. Syracuse opens a homestand against Lehigh Valley at NBT Bank Stadium on Tuesday, giving Ewing an immediate chance to show whether his first Double-A homer on April 24 and his triple on April 26 were the start of a promotion push or merely the opening act. For a Mets system waiting on impact bats, Triple-A will reveal how real this one is.