Brandon Sproat gets closer to Mets after Triple-A promotion

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brandon Sproat’s latest dominant pitching performance earned him a bump within one stop of the major leagues. 

A day after striking out 13 batters for Double-A Binghamton, the stud right-hander was promoted Saturday to Triple-A Syracuse.

Sproat, who began the season at High-A Brooklyn, has appeared in 17 games overall and pitched to a 2.05 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 87 ²/₃ innings. 

Sproat concluded his outing against New Hampshire on Friday with 11 straight strikeouts.

The MLB record is 10 consecutive strikeouts.

Only two of the outs Sproat recorded over five innings weren’t by strikeout. 

The 23-year-old Sproat, with his 100-mph heat, is clearly on the Mets’ radar as a potential late-season call-up. 

“We are paying attention, especially after an outing like last night,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before the Mets faced the Angels. “It’s good to see our guys develop and continue to make progress and we are definitely going to need a lot of them and are continuing to pay close attention.” 

Mendoza wouldn’t say if there had been conversations about bringing Sproat directly to the Mets. 

“We just want him to continue to develop,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully he continues to put himself where he’s in the conversation.” 

The Mets released Jake Diekman.

The lefty reliever was designated for assignment by the club earlier in the week. 

Pete Alonso entered play Saturday with three homers in his past five games.

It followed a stretch in which Alonso hit only three homers in three weeks.

The recent surge was enough to push Alonso back into the team lead with 23 homers, one ahead of Francisco Lindor. 

“I have felt pretty good at the dish for a long time now,” Alonso said. “I am just happy that balls, line drives, are starting to carry over the fence so it’s a nice happy accident just trying to hit a line drive.” 

Reed Garrett was scheduled to pitch Saturday for Double-A Binghamton in his first minor league rehab appearance since he was placed on the injured list last month with right elbow swelling, but the game was rained out. 

Mendoza cited Jose Butto’s recent usage in the decision to limit the right-hander to two innings in relief on Friday instead of letting him pursue a second straight three-inning save.

Butto threw only 27 pitches, after throwing 44 and 40 in his two prior outings.

The Mets have been keeping Butto extended with the possibility he will be utilized in the starting rotation.