R.J. Gordon Is Turning Heads in the Mets’ Farm System - and He’s Just Getting Started
Mets fans have a soft spot for the underdog. There’s something about a later-round draft pick climbing the ladder to the majors that hits different - a gritty, against-the-odds rise that echoes the path of Jacob deGrom, who went from ninth-round pick to two-time Cy Young winner.
Tylor Megill got his shot and earned some early goodwill for his rapid ascent. And now, another name is starting to generate buzz in that same mold: R.J.
Gordon.
Drafted in the 13th round out of the University of Oregon in 2024, Gordon didn’t arrive with eye-popping college numbers. A 5.22 ERA, fewer than 8 strikeouts per nine innings, and a walk rate north of 4 per nine?
On paper, that’s not the kind of profile that typically screams “future impact arm.” But the Mets’ scouting department clearly saw more - and so far, they’ve been proven right.
A Breakout Year on the Farm
Gordon’s 2025 season was nothing short of a revelation. He split his year between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton, and in both stops, he looked like a pitcher who belonged - and then some.
In Brooklyn, Gordon tossed 67.2 innings and posted a 3.06 ERA with an impressive 10.1 K/9. That kind of swing-and-miss stuff was a big step forward from his college days, and it earned him a promotion to Double-A - a jump that often separates the real prospects from the organizational depth.
At Binghamton, the right-hander didn’t just hold his own - he got even better in some key areas. Over 61 innings, Gordon bumped his strikeout rate to 10.5 K/9 and dramatically cut his walk rate to just 2.2 BB/9.
His ERA ticked up slightly to 3.69, but that number is a bit deceiving. His final three starts of the year saw him give up 14 earned runs in just 13.2 innings - a rough finish that may have been the result of some late-season fatigue.
Up until that point, Gordon had been cruising.
What Comes Next?
Gordon’s performance has put him squarely on the Mets’ radar as a legit pitching prospect - not just a feel-good story from the later rounds. He’s shown he can dominate at the lower levels and compete in Double-A.
The next step? Proving he can sustain that success over a full season and avoid the pitfalls that have tripped up other arms in the system.
Triple-A Syracuse has been a tough proving ground for Mets pitching prospects in recent years. It’s where promising arms like Brandon Sproat have stalled and where others - Dom Hamel, Mike Vasil, and more - have seen their trajectories take a hit.
That makes Gordon’s 2026 campaign all the more important. If he can make it through Double-A clean and avoid the Syracuse curse, he’ll be in the conversation for a big-league look - possibly as early as 2027, unless the Mets see a bullpen role for him sooner.
A Diamond in the Rough?
The 13th round isn’t typically where you find future big-league contributors, but every now and then, a team strikes gold. Two years before Gordon, the Mets took Dylan Ross in that same round. Maybe it’s not such an unlucky number after all.
For now, Gordon is one of the more intriguing names to watch in a Mets farm system that’s been steadily restocking its pitching depth. He’s already exceeded expectations - now the challenge is to keep climbing. If he does, he might just be the next underdog Mets fans rally around.