The Rockaway Wave
Originally Published June 27, 2025
On December 2, 2022, Jacob deGrom signed with the Texas Rangers. One of the greatest players in New York Mets history, and one of the most talented pitchers many fans today have ever seen with their own eyes, was officially no longer a Met.
As compensation, because deGrom had been tendered the qualifying offer, the Mets received pick No. 143 in the 2023 MLB Draft. With that pick, the organization selected A.J. Ewing, a high school shortstop.
“When it first happened, I thought it was pretty cool,” Ewing said. “Just because, getting picked up because [deGrom] signed with someone else, that big of a name, that’s pretty cool.”
Ewing, understandably, hasn’t thought about it much since then. Ultimately, it has no impact on whether or not he will make the big leagues, and he is not responsible for the pick he was selected with. However, if Ewing does become an impact player for the Mets in the future, there will always be at least a small footnote on his story: He is a Met because deGrom is not.
He might be the player attached to one of the highest-profile free agent losses the franchise has seen, but he’s hardly the first. The Mets have a long history of compensatory picks making an impact.
Isaiah Greene, selected with the pick the Mets received for losing Zack Wheeler in free agency, was part of the trade that brought Francisco Lindor to Queens. Current Mets outfield prospect Nick Morabito was compensation for Noah Syndergaard. Stan Jefferson was compensation for Pete Falcone. Ike Davis for Tom Glavine. Kevin Plawecki for José Reyes. Even David Wright was only a Met because Mike Hampton picked the Colorado school system over the New York school system.
Ewing has a chance to be one of the most impactful compensatory picks the Mets have ever had.
He started out red-hot in the Florida Complex League last season, his first full year of professional baseball. He received a quick promotion to Single-A after 19 games, but largely struggled the rest of the way. He showed some flashes but was inconsistent, finishing the season hitting .228/.344/.344/.688 in 71 games at Single-A.
He returned to Single-A to begin 2025 and tore the cover off the ball. In 18 games, Ewing hit .400/.506/.615/1.121, earning a promotion to High-A Brooklyn, and, unlike last season, his bat didn’t slump.
“I think it’s just maturity,” Cyclones manager Gilbert Gómez said. “Understanding that it’s one game at a time, it’s one pitch at a time. Don’t try to get too caught up into narratives or results, just focus on the process, and I feel like he has grown from that.”
In 46 games with the Cyclones, Ewing has hit .299/.414/.391/.805 with one home run, seven doubles and three triples. He’s walked 31 times to just 41 strikeouts, a good ratio.
Gómez said Ewing is much more in control this year, both mentally and physically, than he was last year. He’s toned down his swing, and his movements in the batters box are more controlled. He’s also been more in control of his emotions when things don’t go his way.
Ewing acknowledged his start to pro ball was rocky, and said he was trying to do too much. He doesn’t have consistent home run pop at this point — his words — and is focused on putting the barrel on the ball and driving it gap to gap.
Then, when he gets on base, he runs wild.
In 64 games across Single-A and High-A, Ewing has stolen 48 bases and has been caught just five times. He has the third-most stolen bases across the entire minor leagues, and is playing in a higher level in the minors than either of the players ahead of him.
The most notable thing about his 48 stolen bases? He stole just 13 in 90 games last season.
“I think last year I had a little bit of anxiety for stealing bases, but I made it a priority for me to get rid of that anxiety in spring training,” Ewing said. “I would just go any chance I got, and just really got rid of it.”
Gómez said the organization is encouraging Ewing to use his speed to his advantage. It’s a weapon, and one that could help get him to the big leagues.
“Huge part of my game,” Ewing said. “I think that there’s a ton of value in running the bases, and that’s something that I think that I can capitalize on.”
He’s also stealing bases at one of the highest rates in the minor leagues while still hitting for some power. Guardians prospect Tommy Hawke and Royals prospect Asbel Gonzalez, the two players with more stolen bases than Ewing, have combined for 22 extra-base hits, just one of being a home run. Ewing has 19 extra-base hits by himself, with two home runs.
“It makes him dangerous,” Gómez said. “You have to make sure that he doesn’t get on base. You don’t want to just walk him, so you hve to attack him. But if you attack him, he has the ability to hit the ball for that extra-base power. So it’s definitely a component that brings a bigger threat from a guy like him. He can hurt you with the extra-base, he can bunt it down the line, he can walk and obviously, he can steal.”
He has significantly cut down on strikeouts, dropping his strikeout rate from 28.5% last season to 17.5% this season. He has had a lot of success vs. left-handed pitching this season. A fellow lefty, Ewing is hitting .367/.466/.500/.966 in 60 at-bats vs. southpaws, a massive improvement on his .224 batting average and .558 OPS vs. same-side pitching last season.
“I think I work really well with the stuff moving away from me,” Ewing said. “But at the same time, if they try to bust me up and in, I think I have the hand quickness to get there.”
Like so many players, Ewing was a shortstop in high school.
“He was always one of the best players on the field,” Mark Pelfrey, his coach at Springboro High School in Springboro, Ohio said. “His confidence always showed through, always believed that he was the best player on the field, and I’m assuming he still does.”
However, Pelfrey said he knew he would have to move off the position in pro ball.
With the Mets, Ewing hasn’t played an inning at shortstop. He’s played some games at second base, but the Mets are using him primarily as an outfielder. With his athleticism, most of that time has been spent in center field.
“I feel like now I feel the most comfortable in center field, which is kind of weird, just because my whole life I was playing shortstop, second base, third base, just sticking on the infield,” Ewing said. “Last year, I kind of made almost a full-time switch, still play a little bit of infield, but. I think outfield comes really naturally to me, and I think that’s, in my opinion, that’s where I’m gonna stick long term.”
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