inside the mets Get to know R.J. Gordon, an unheralded Mets pitching project trying to reverse year of regression By Mark W. Sanchez Published Aug. 7, 2026, 6:40 a.m. ET R.J. Gordon #21 of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies throws a pitch during the first inning against the Akron RubberDucks at Canal Park on September 06, 2025 in Akron, Ohio Diamond Images/Getty Images For a personification of the triumph that was the 2025 season in the Mets’ system — ESPN ranked the club’s farm the No. 1 in baseball last August — and a personification of the “regression” through much of this season that Steve Cohen has alluded to, consider R.J. Gordon.
Access the Mets beat like never before Don’t miss Mike Puma’s text messages from Queens and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Mets.
A 13th-round pick in 2024, the 6-foot starting pitcher outperformed any expectations apart from his own in his first pro season in 2025, when he climbed to Double-A Binghamton and finished the year with a 3.36 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 128 ⅔ innings.
And then he suffered a lat strain early this year, didn’t return to Binghamton until May and had a cumulative 7.96 ERA over his first 15 games into mid-July.
“I think this stuff is needed,” the right-hander said last week during what he hoped would be the tail end of his first rough patch as a professional and as a face of 2026 disappointment began to become a face of 2026 resilience.
