Prince of Queens Prospect Weekly: Rojas Rockets to Triple-A, Santucci Chases MiLB's K Crown
By Olivia Reed ·
Prince of Queens Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Mets farm system.
Rojas Opens His Triple-A Account With a Bang
Jefferson Rojas (AAA, SS, Rank: 4) was promoted to Syracuse on September 15, and the transition to Triple-A looked seamless from the first few plate appearances. In his debut, he went 2-for-2 with a home run, and across his first nine Triple-A plate appearances he has already hit two more out of the park, driving in four. That came on the heels of the most productive stretch of his season: over his last 30 days at Double-A, he slashed with a .727 slugging mark in 95 plate appearances, posting 10 home runs, six doubles, and 22 RBI. For the full 2026 season across both Double-A stops and his brief Syracuse cup of coffee, he is sitting at 26 home runs in 534 combined plate appearances, a pace that looks nothing like the 45 power grade attached to his profile. The question with the power was always whether the gap-to-pull-side pop would develop into something more consistent, and this last month has answered it with production beyond what the scouting grades anticipated.
Rojas is a 55 hit tool, contact-first infielder with a compact right-handed swing and a 50 speed grade that makes him a genuinely well-rounded offensive package even before the power spike enters the conversation. The full-season contact rate of 75.5% and 8.8% walk rate speak to an approach that has not broken down as the power has arrived; he is not selling out for home runs at the cost of what made him valuable in the first place. His 17.0% strikeout rate for the season is perfectly manageable for a player hitting this way. The long-term defensive home is second base rather than shortstop, and quality breaking balls finishing down and away remain his primary vulnerability, both of which are real and worth monitoring as Triple-A arms get sharper. At 21, though, he is already ahead of his projected second-division regular ceiling on the offensive side, and a full Syracuse audition this September provides exposure that could reshape his organizational standing heading into 2027.
Santucci Is Closing In on a Minor League Milestone
Jonathan Santucci (AAA, LHP, Rank: 12) made his latest Triple-A start this week, going five innings and striking out six against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in a 5-4 Syracuse win. He generated 16 whiffs on 87 pitches, a strong bat-missing effort even if the three earned runs and three walks were a reminder that command remains the persistent obstacle in his development. The six strikeouts brought his combined 2026 total to 163 across 125 innings, putting him in contention for the minor league strikeout lead. Over his last 30 days at Triple-A, he owns a 27.2% strikeout rate and a 35.8% whiff rate in 24 innings, numbers that show the swing-and-miss production has not evaporated despite the step up in competition. The ERA in that same stretch is 5.25, which tells you the story honestly: the stuff is there, the misses are real, but runners keep finding their way on when the command wavers.
The profile centers on a 60-grade four-seamer in the 94-97 range and a plus slider that generates two-plane bite and misses bats against hitters from both sides. When those two pitches are tunneling correctly, Santucci is a genuine problem. The 45 command grade is where the ceiling conversation gets complicated, and a 12.5% walk rate for the season at the combined level confirms it is not just a small-sample concern. His walk rate at Triple-A specifically has climbed to 13.5%, and the 5.24 ERA at that level reflects what happens when a fastball/slider power arm cannot stay in the zone long enough to let the stuff take over. The curveball and changeup are both average at best, leaving him reliant on a two-pitch mix against upper-level lineups that have scouting reports. The #3 starter projection remains defensible given the raw arsenal and the strikeout production, and 163 punchouts across a full season is not an accident. Getting there consistently over a 150-plus inning season while trimming the walk rate even modestly is the developmental task that defines the rotation projection from a multi-inning reliever outcome.
Quick Hits
- Ryan Clifford (AAA, 1B, Rank: 5) · put together his best week of the month, going 6-for-16 with three doubles, a triple, and a home run, driving in two across 16 plate appearances. His last 30 days at Syracuse show a .679 slugging mark with a 12.5% walk rate in 32 plate appearances, a genuine late-season uptick for a player whose season-long contact rate of 65.6% and 37.1% strikeout rate have been the biggest obstacles to a bigger role. The 60 power grade is producing; 18 home runs on the year at Triple-A is real output. Whether the swing-and-miss volume ever gets manageable enough for him to hold a big-league lineup spot is still the central question in his profile.
- Gary Gill Hill (AAA, RHP, Rank: 14) · was placed on the Syracuse 7-day injured list on September 11. The cause has not been confirmed publicly. His last appearance was September 6, a five-inning, one-run effort in his Triple-A debut, and in the two weeks before the placement he threw 8.2 combined innings across one Double-A and one Triple-A outing. The timing is frustrating given he had just earned his first Triple-A look after posting a 3.76 ERA with 28 strikeouts over 26.1 innings at Binghamton. His season across all levels stands at 139.2 innings pitched, so this is hopefully a maintenance move rather than anything serious.
- Zach Franklin (AAA, RHP, Rank: 28) · returned from the 7-day IL on September 13 and has already logged one clean inning at Syracuse, striking out one without allowing a run. His 2.03 ERA across 13.1 innings with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate this year stands in sharp contrast to the 4.37 ERA he posted in 45.1 innings at Charlotte before arriving in the organization.
- Jacob Reimer (AA, 3B, Rank: 7) · had a tough week at Binghamton, managing just 1-for-13 at the plate with six strikeouts, though his lone hit was a home run that plated three. His last 30 days show a .342 slugging mark with a 24.2% strikeout rate across 91 plate appearances, a stretch where the contact has thinned out even as the walks have held up at 12.1%. The season-long profile at Double-A still shows a 12.9% walk rate and 21 doubles, so the plate discipline foundation is intact. He is a 50 hit, 55 power corner infielder projecting as a second-division regular, and rough weeks like this one are part of the Double-A learning curve at 22.
- Jack Wenninger (AAA, RHP, Rank: 6) · allowed two earned runs over 4.2 innings against 22 batters this week, generating 11 whiffs and striking out seven. The outing counts as a mild step back after a strong recent stretch: over his last 30 days at Triple-A, he has a 3.31 ERA with a 32.9% strikeout rate and a 38.8% whiff rate in 16.1 innings, the best run of his 2026 season. His ERA for the year sits at 4.21 across 113.1 innings, a gap from the 2.92 he posted at Double-A Binghamton last season. The plus splitter is doing its job in the recent data; the walk rate in the last 30 days at 12.3% is the piece that needs to come down for the back-end rotation projection to fully materialize.