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Speaking to reporters before his MLB debut for the Mets on Sunday, an excited Brandon Sproat shared how he learned of his promotion, his reaction to the news and what he's looking forward to most for the big day.

After reports of his call-up broke on Thursday, Sproat told his side of the story and what it means to him and his family.

"Super excited, very blessed to be here," he said. "It has not sunk in yet. I don’t think it probably will until tomorrow."

Following the news, Sproat said he held it together just long enough to call his parents before he "broke down in tears."

"We sat there and cried for some time together," he said. "Everything we’ve been through this year, they’re my backbone. They’ve been through it all with me."

The third top pitching prospect called up by New York this season, behind Nolan McLean and Saturday's starter Jonah Tong, Sproat has been able to get the lay of the land a little bit by asking his teammates and friends about their experiences during their, albeit brief, major league tenures.

"They’ve been up here for a couple weeks now, so I think it’s good for me to be able to ask them questions as well," Sproat said. "They already know some of the ropes and I’m close with them, so I’m a little more comfortable asking them the questions, but I’ll open up more as it goes on here."

Despite being leapt over by McLean and Tong and the third one of the bunch to get the call, Sproat kept his feet firmly on the ground and didn't let himself wonder if a promotion would happen this year.

Instead, he leaned on his faith and his family and kept pitching well for Triple-A to give himself a shot. 

"You gotta give him credit, he went through a lot," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "It wasn’t easy for him. Even when he started pitching well, he wasn’t the one who was called up right away. And I’m pretty sure it was a struggle for him… and he kept doing what he needed to do in order to get the call. So it says a lot about his personality and the type of kid he is."

In fact, after a disastrous first half of the season, the right-hander completely turned it around during the second half by getting "back to the basics." Now, after all of his hard work, Sproat will make his debut and try to help a Mets team in the midst of a playoff push.

"It’s awesome to be able to come up here and help the guys and really just go out there and compete and just try to win every single game," Sproat said.

Still just 24 years old, Sproat also got some advice for tomorrow's game by the longest-tenured Met on the roster: Brandon Nimmo.

"I talked to Nimmo earlier and he told me one thing, he was like ‘whether it’s before your outing, during your outing, I want you to take 15 seconds and just look around and just soak it all in. Because whenever your debut is done, you’re gonna realize, oh wow, it’s already over.’ 

"He told me to do that and it makes a lot of sense. He’s been there before, so definitely gonna go out there tomorrow and just look around, find my family in the stands and just soak it all in."

Mets players have been doing a lot of soaking in lately following the debuts of McLean and Tong. Now it's Sproat's turn to showcase his stuff. 

And while he shouldn't feel the need to compare himself to the others, if Sproat's debut goes anything like McLean and Tong's, New York looks poised to have an exciting finish to its season and perhaps a great start for its future.

"There’s a ton of talent up here, a ton of talent in the minors," Sproat said. "Seeing what Nolan’s done so far it’s incredible. Seeing Jonah’s debut that’s incredible as well. There’s other guys in Triple-A that are having really good success… I think the Mets have a great farm system and they do things right. I think there’s a bright future for us."

Giants' heartbreaking collapse in loss to Cardinals highlights fatal roster flaw originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Giants were rolling. The New York Mets lost. It was lining up to be a perfect day for a team that was dead in the water three weeks ago, on the cusp of finding themselves only three games back from an MLB postseason spot with the most valuable asset in baseball on their side — momentum

And then in the blink of an eye, it all came crashing down in heartbreaking fashion. With San Francisco holding a 2-0 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, Giants manager Bob Melvin handed the ball to reliever Ryan Walker to get the final three outs of the game.

Walker instead coughed up three runs without recording a single out, as the Giants watched their five-game winning streak snapped in horrific fashion. Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker’s RBI double landed in left field with the impact of a dagger to the chest as the Giants fell 3-2 to St. Louis in a game that very well could be looked back at three weeks from now if San Francisco narrowly misses out on playoff baseball.

Justin Verlander was stellar, tossing six shutout innings while also moving past Giants legend Gaylord Perry for the eighth spot on MLB’s all-time strikeout leader list.

In what has become a tragic routine during the 2025 MLB season, Verlander’s gem will be forgotten as the sting of another bullpen collapse steals the show in a gut-wrenching defeat.

While the Giants entered this game as MLB’s hottest team, late-inning collapses like this are an unfortunate consequence of San Francisco shipping out two key bullpen arms at the trade deadline in Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval.

Once the Giants lost Randy Rodriguez for the season with an elbow injury, it always was going to be a tall ask for San Francisco’s bullpen to pick up the slack of three backend options that were as good as any in MLB during the first half of the season.

But they did have an arm who previously had succeded in high-leverage situations in Walker, who entered the season as the Giants closer after an outstanding 2024 campaign thats saw the right-hander log a 10-4 record with a 1.91 ERA in 80 innings of work. Walker didn’t stick in that role after some early-season struggles and location issues that reared their head on Saturday in St. Louis

Perhaps Giants manager Bob Melvin hoped Walker would be able to rekindle some of that magic, or maybe it was as simple as the limited arms at his disposal, but the relievers ninth-inning meltdown hardly came as a surprise to anyone who has watched this movie unfold countless times over the course of this season.

Saturday’s defeat is the kind of loss that feels like a gut punch, even if San Francisco still finds itself in the thick of the NL playoff picture.

There likely will be no shortage of close games down the stretch where the Giants will need to rely on their bullpen to see out wins and Saturday’s disastrous defeat feels like a harrowing reminder that San Francisco remains a few pieces short of what it takes to be a true contender.

Right now it’s obvious those pieces are in the backend of the Giants’ bullpen, making it difficult to envision a scenario where San Francisco is able to consistently scrape across enough run support to make a serious run into October.

Crazier things have happened in baseball, but the lack of trustworthy arms feels like the final nail in the coffin of the roller coaster ride that has been 2025 Giants baserball.

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After the news of the death of former Mets manager Davey Johnson broke, the baseball world sent their condolences and gave tribute to the four-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion (twice as a player and once as a manager).

Steve Cohen and Alex Cohen, owners of the Mets, issued a statement on Saturday afternoon on the beloved manager who was at the helm in New York from 1984-1990.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Davey Johnson. Davey’s 595 wins remain the most in franchise history, and his legacy is highlighted by him leading the 1986 team to a World Series championship. He led with a quiet confidence and unwavering belief in his team, always caring deeply for his players both on and off the field. He had a distinguished 13-year playing career, including winning two World Series titles with the Orioles. On behalf of our entire organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Davey’s family, friends, and all who were impacted by his remarkable life and career."

A two-time Manager of the Year, although none with the Mets despite compiling a 595-417 record (.588 winning percentage) in six-plus seasons in New York, Johnson was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010, alongside Frank Cashen, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.

Both Strawberry and Gooden, as well as a few other former players, paid their respects to their former manager with statements, too.

"Davey Johnson was the greatest manager I ever played for," Strawberry said. "He let us do our own thing. This is a sad day for the Mets and for the 1986 Mets family."

Gooden added: "He took a chance on me when I was 19. Davey wasn’t afraid to make a tough decision. I know I wouldn’t have had the career I did without him.”

Strawberry also posted a picture of him, Johnson and Gooden at their Mets Hall of Fame ceremony on Instagram with the caption:

A post shared by Darryl Strawberry (@darrylstrawberry18)

Additional tributes by former players to Johnson include Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Mookie Wilson and Roger McDowell.

"Without a doubt he saved my career," Hernandez said. "He let me be myself on the field. He knew when to be tough and when to take it easier. It was a joy playing for him."

"Getting to the major leagues is tough. Succeeding in the major leagues is even harder, and to accomplish that you need a guardian angel,"Darling wrote. "Davey was my guardian angel."

"He was just a player's manager," Wilson added. "He made it fun to go to the field. He laid down the law when needed, but other times he just let us play."

"Davey was really a forward thinker," McDowell said. "He knew his players strengths and weaknesses. He always set us up to have success as a team and individually. Our Met family has lost a quality man."