CINCINNATI — Brandon Nimmo journeyed out toward the left field line, the only non-pitcher, non-catcher or coach in the vicinity as much of the Mets’ bullpen and some of their rotation stretched.
About five hours before Saturday’s game, he wanted to talk with the new guy.
“I want you to take 15 seconds and just look around and just soak it all in,” were Nimmo’s words of advice, according to Brandon Sproat, “because whenever your debut is done, you’re going to realize, ‘Oh, wow, it’s already over.’ ”
For Sproat and the Mets, perhaps this is just the beginning.
The young, hard-throwing righty will become the organization’s third top starting pitcher prospect to debut in the past three-plus weeks on Sunday, when he gets the ball for the series finale against the Reds.
The journey of a talented arm twice selected in the draft by the Mets — the two parties could not agree to terms after Sproat was selected out of the University of Florida in the third round in 2022, and the Mets then picked him again in the second round in 2023 — will culminate with being thrown directly into a playoff race while facing a team chasing the Mets in the wild-card hunt.
Triple-A Syracuse manager Dick Scott called Sproat into his office this week and told him he would be throwing a light bullpen session that day.
That did not jibe with Sproat’s minor league schedule, which projected to see him start Friday.
A confused Sproat questioned the plan before Scott revealed that he would be starting Sunday in Cincinnati.
The Florida native held his emotions in check before calling his mom and dad.
“We sat there and cried for some time together,” said Sproat, who will have his parents, two sisters, two grandmothers, aunt, uncle and one cousin at his debut — while another, 12-year-old cousin will stay home in trying to achieve perfect attendance at school. “Everything we’ve been through this year — they’re my backbone. They’ve been through it all with me.”
Sproat has been through plenty this year.
He entered the campaign as the organization’s top pitching prospect after a thoroughly dominant first season in pro ball, in which he rocketed all the way to Triple-A.
He looked promising during spring camp, returned to Syracuse and stumbled upon the first real adversity of his professional life.
Through his first 15 starts with Syracuse, the 24-year-old pitched to a 5.95 ERA, struck out too few (43 in 62 innings) and walked too many (32).
Nolan McLean leapfrogged Sproat in the pecking order and debuted first.
Jonah Tong, who spent most of his season with Double-A Binghamton, also passed Sproat on the highway to Queens.
Clarity for Sproat came with a catchphrase — “Let it eat” — in which he tells himself to simply let loose and throw each pitch with maximum effort and conviction.
The turnaround was instant.
With more overwhelming stuff, the righty pitched to a 2.44 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 59 innings of his last 11 minor league starts.
His most recent — a seven-inning, three-hit, no-run gem last Saturday — manager Carlos Mendoza interpreted as a “message” to the team that he was ready.
Several times this season, Sproat publicly has said he felt he could help the major league team this year.
The Mets did not officially agree until this week when they demoted a struggling Kodai Senga and moved up Sproat as the sixth starter of a group that also includes McLean and Tong.
Sproat will lean upon his friends and already pestered McLean and Tong about the attire required for pregame throwing, the timing, the location of the weight room — standard questions for a wide-eyed kid on his first day of school.
If Sproat had begun to worry whether he would join his pals this year, he did not want to acknowledge it.
“To be honest, I’m just being where my feet are,” Sproat said. “I just stood on my faith, and whenever it was God’s time for me to be called up, that’s when it was going to happen.”
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