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<\/p>\nFor all the grades and rankings handed out in the wake of the trade deadline earlier this month, we overlooked the team that benefited most from those moves. It wasn\u2019t the Padres adding two rental starters or even the Dodgers snagging Tarik Skubal.<\/p>\n
The top tier? That\u2019s in the Southern Tier of New York \u2014 the team that has run off 14 wins in its last 16 games to trim a 10-game deficit in the standings to 2 1\/2, the team that has used an infusion of talent to its lineup to score more than eight runs per game in that time, the team outscoring its opponents by more than four runs per game this month.<\/p>\n
The biggest winner of the trade deadline is the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.<\/p>\n
Yes, major-league sell-offs create minor-league additions, and nobody\u2019s added talent lately quite like the Mets\u2019 Double-A affiliate. In those deals made by the parent club, Binghamton added Jefferson Rojas, Emilien Pitre, Billy Amick, Gary Gill Hill, Gabe Davis and Luke Gabrysh. (Pitre and Amick mashed for two weeks, then were promoted to Triple A.)<\/p>\n
The Rumble Ponies also brought up the Mets\u2019 2025 first-round pick Mitch Voit and welcomed back top prospect Jacob Reimer from injury in late July. The result has turned a team with a 10-22 record in the second half of the season into a legitimate contender to steal the second-half crown in the Eastern League.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys have come together really quick,\u201d manager Michael Collins said. \u201cIn a funny way, it\u2019s nice so many people are new. Although they\u2019re new, they\u2019re in it together, experiencing that same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the Norfolk Southern freight train that lurches to life beyond Mirabito Stadium\u2019s left-field fence, the Rumble Ponies took some time to get going. Now that they\u2019re moving, it\u2019s hard to stop them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Emilien Pitre played so well for the Rumble Ponies that he earned a quick promotion to Triple A. (Nate Stickney \/ Rumble Ponies)<\/p>\n
Rojas\u2019 necklace, derived from a joke with his little brother, is small and less ostentatious than its message. \u201cUna cabra,\u201d he says. It means goat, the nickname his brother gave him.<\/p>\n
As in, the Greatest of All Time?<\/p>\n
Rojas smiles and nods.<\/p>\n
Rojas is the biggest new name in town, the jewel of the Mets\u2019 trade deadline sell-off. Acquired from the Cubs for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor, Rojas is a top-100 prospect and now atop almost every ranking of New York\u2019s best minor-league talent.<\/p>\n
If you want to know why, roll the tape from Tuesday night\u2019s game. That\u2019s when Rojas homered to center in the first and, in the bottom of the ninth, ripped the score-tying double to cap off a seven-pitch at-bat in which he\u2019d fouled off a trio of two-strike offerings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat at-bat sums it up,\u201d Collins said. \u201cHe\u2019s competing and staying in the at-bat until he gets the pitch he can handle. A lot of those at-bats, he\u2019s just really competitive from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trades typically catch prospects by surprise, but Rojas was prepared for his: The Cubs let him know he was in conversations ahead of the deadline, though he had no idea where he\u2019d end up. Going to the Mets carried with it one familiar face and some irony. Binghamton\u2019s hitting coach is Rachel Folden, who joined the organization last winter after five years with the Cubs. She\u2019s seen Rojas since 2023 and worked with him in multiple offseasons.<\/p>\n
![\"Jefferson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5-Jefferson-Rojas-credit-Nate-Stickney--scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n A coach said of Jefferson Rojas: \u2018Every pitch, he\u2019s gathering information and learning from it.\u2019 (Nate Stickney \/ Rumble Ponies)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun to see that the player we all hoped he would develop into, he\u2019s on track to being that player,\u201d Folden said. \u201cHe\u2019s the same kid with the same quiet focus and determination that acts and carries himself like a big leaguer. We all saw that from a really young age.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does it mean for a 21-year-old in Double A to act like a big leaguer?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the attention to detail,\u201d Folden said. \u201cIt\u2019s a special thing to watch guys in the big leagues go about their work, because they do it as if it\u2019s the first time every single day. Every single rep, there\u2019s a high level of care. He has that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The consistency of Rojas\u2019 production belies how aggressively he\u2019s been promoted throughout his career. With Chicago, he skipped rookie ball and went straight to Single A as an 18-year-old. With steady promotions since, Rojas has always been among the youngest players in his league.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just been the same guy,\u201d said Folden. \u201cEvery pitch, he\u2019s gathering information and learning from it and trying to figure out how to beat it. It\u2019s almost like a puzzle to him. He has a good understanding of who he is as a hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew what type of player I was,\u201d Rojas said through teammate and interpreter Yohairo Cuevas. \u201cI just took advantage of every chance they gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some top-100 prospects achieve that ranking because of what they can be if everything comes together. Others are there because they do everything well and are likely to carve out a productive if not spectacular major-league career. (Mets fans can think of this as a spectrum from Amed Rosario to Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez.) Rojas sits in that latter group \u2014 a player who does most everything pretty well, with the chance to make further gains. This year, that\u2019s come with his power. The home run Rojas hit Tuesday was his 17th of the season, six more than he hit last year.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the result of Rojas\u2019 work in the winter to clean up his posture at the plate. He also used heavier training bats to improve his bat speed.<\/p>\n
With the Rumble Ponies, Rojas has already started games at second, third and short \u2014 though as with the Cubs, most of those defensive starts have been at third base. That\u2019s a shift from last year, when he was primarily a shortstop, and an acknowledgement that his future, especially in his new organization, probably isn\u2019t at short.<\/p>\n
Oh, and getting back to the irony: Rojas\u2019 favorite player is Javier B\u00e1ez. B\u00e1ez, too, was traded from Chicago to the Mets, though he was the rental and not the prospect going back. The Cubs owe the Mets one, right?<\/p>\n
The start of a player\u2019s professional career can be a delicate time for a coach. You want the player to be what got them to professional baseball, but you also want them to make the changes commensurate with the rise in competition. One day last summer in St. Lucie, minor-league hitting coordinator Daniel Nicolaisen and Mitch Voit shared a look in the dugout.<\/p>\n
It was time.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that Voit was drowning so much as treading water during his pro debut. The two talked through some tweaks to Voit\u2019s mechanics, including a different starting point for his hands and a leg kick, the latter less for timing and more to allow Voit to access his power in games. By working on it late last year and through the winter, Voit has made his new mechanics second nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get kicked in the butt a little bit when you start off, and it\u2019s a learning curve you\u2019ve got to adjust to right away,\u201d Voit said. \u201cThis is about playing baseball for 15 years, not playing baseball for July and August. I was able to have that perspective to use these couple months to start something new that will help me long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy delay it? The more experience you have with it, the more comfortable you get. Starting early definitely helped me get to where I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voit\u2019s emphasis this season has been on refining his eye at the plate, on understanding the difference between looking for a pitch and looking for his pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was Mitch really buying into the idea of being a leadoff hitter, which is an identity shift for him,\u201d said Nicolaisen. \u201cSome guys do that with more focus than others, and Mitch is laser-focused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voit agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cFocus on that process in the batter\u2019s box, and you start there and eventually get a little more advanced and a little more advanced,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something you work on every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
After an uneven start to this year, Voit has been one of the minor leagues\u2019 most dangerous hitters since Memorial Day. In those nearly three months, he\u2019s a half-dozen slugging points from running a .300\/.400\/.500 slash line with 29 steals as a middle infielder. He has been the Eastern League\u2019s Player of the Week twice. He has only played in the Eastern League for two weeks.<\/p>\n
All that in August of his first full professional season \u2014 a time when most pro-ball rookies have hit the wall. Voit credits a keen focus on his nutrition and sleep habits with keeping him in proper condition this late into the season. The organization has also been proactive in giving him rest days; he\u2019s gotten one game off just about every week this season, in addition to the Monday off-day on the minor-league schedule. (Voit has missed more time this week, as he\u2019s nursing a bruised forearm stemming from a hit-by-pitch Tuesday night.)<\/p>\n
Nicolaisen goes back to Voit\u2019s prep and points to his batting practice routine. The last round each day?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe uses it as if he\u2019s about to step on Citi Field tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cMitch is one where you don\u2019t have to worry if he\u2019s prepared or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Gary Gill Hill, who grew up in New York, has made an early impression thanks to his excellent control. (Nate Stickney \/ Rumble Ponies)<\/p>\n
Years ago, as they developed arm after arm with mind-boggling movement and stuff, the Tampa Bay Rays simplified things for their battery. With pitches that moved this much, the catcher could set up right down the heart of the plate, and pitchers were instructed to aim down the middle.<\/p>\n
Gill Hill was different.<\/p>\n
Even in Tampa Bay\u2019s system, his excellent control led to a problem seldom seen in today\u2019s baseball: He was throwing too many strikes. Even the Rays told Gill Hill\u2019s catchers to set up on one side of the plate or the other to narrow the target. The goal was to turn that good control into pinpoint command.<\/p>\n
Gill Hill, acquired from Tampa Bay in the Freddy Peralta trade, is continuing that work with the Mets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just changing my focal points,\u201d Gill Hill said. \u201cI\u2019m able to move the ball around the zone so I can hit a particular part of the zone rather than the fatter part.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of teams\u2019 approach will be to swing because you throw so many pitches in the zone,\u201d Binghamton pitching coach Matt Carasiti said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just shifted the focus to being fine. Aim small, miss small.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pitch that best encapsulates this is the glove-side sinker Gill Hill is trying to throw. (Think of Bartolo Col\u00f3n freezing lefty after lefty with that sinker coming back over the plate.) When executed properly, it\u2019s a perfect complement to Gill Hill\u2019s larger mix, playing off his cutter and sweeper that can start in the same place and move to varying degrees the other way. Miss with that front-door sinker to a lefty, however, and you\u2019re often getting a new baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou take your lumps here trying to do those things,\u201d Carasiti said, \u201cso when you get to the big leagues, you can throw that pitch with confidence and not worry about the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I start throwing it outside to righties or in on the front hip to lefties, I can create an X with everything \u2014 a cutter or sweeper off it,\u201d Gill Hill said. \u201cHitters have to pick one to swing at.\u201d<\/p>\n
(For fans of a certain age, creating Xs on the plate immediately brings to mind Greg Maddux\u2019s philosophy on the mound.)<\/p>\n
This talk about command and execution shouldn\u2019t detract from the fact that Gill Hill also has good stuff. His velocity hit 97 mph on Tuesday night, and the sweeper he\u2019s tinkered with since entering pro ball has become more comfortable this season. Now Gill Hill is working on creating more lift in that sweeper \u2014 basically, limiting the vertical downward break caused by gravity when he throws it. The Mets want to see it remain on the same plane as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just trusting your hand placement on it,\u201d said Gill Hill.<\/p>\n
Gill Hill grew up in New York. He\u2019s a New Rochelle kid who went to Kennedy Catholic in Westchester. He\u2019s the type of person who looks at the thick clouds clearing for sun on a 75-degree day in Binghamton and earnestly talks about \u201cplaying in good weather.\u201d He and his teammates in Bowling Green, Ky., (where the average summer high is about 10 degrees warmer than in the Southern Tier) had been plotting out the trade deadline in the weeks leading up to it. They knew the Rays were buyers. Someone was going to go somewhere else.<\/p>\n
Gill Hill can\u2019t believe it\u2019s him, and it\u2019s New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mets? Coming home and playing for a New York team?\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Confluence Park, where the Chenango River meets the larger Susquehanna in downtown Binghamton, sits less than a mile from Mirabito Stadium\u2019s home plate. This is the point where something smaller feeds into and becomes a part of something larger \u2014 where impact can ripple.<\/p>\n
This has not been the season the Mets planned for, but their tributary in Binghamton is as exciting as it\u2019s been in years.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s see where it flows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For all the grades and rankings handed out in the wake of the trade deadline earlier this month,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,1830,85],"class_list":["post-864572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}