The Mets selected Zach Thornton on Wednesday and optioned Daniel Duarte, setting up the right-hander for a role that could begin with a spot start while the club patches together its rotation.
Manager Carlos Mendoza signaled the move two days earlier, saying Thornton would play some kind of role for the Mets on Wednesday. The club made room on its active roster a day before that by designating Austin Slater for assignment and recalling Nick Morabito.
Thornton, 24, is not yet on the 40-man roster, but the Mets chose to bring him up anyway as they try to cover innings after Clay Holmes fractured his right fibula and may be out until August. Wednesday would have been Holmes’ turn in the rotation, and the Mets are weighing several ways to handle the spot, including Thornton, Sean Manaea or Tobias Myers for the next turn.
For Thornton, the call reflects how far he has climbed in a short time. The Mets drafted him in the fifth round in 2023, and he spent 2025 building a case with 14 starts before an oblique injury ended his season. Across High-A and Double-A that year, he threw 72 2/3 innings with a 1.98 earned run average, a 28.5 percent strikeout rate, a 4 percent walk rate and a 43.2 percent ground ball rate.
He has taken another step in 2026. Before the promotion, Thornton made five Double-A starts and two Triple-A starts, covering 37 innings with a 3.16 ERA, a 26.5 percent strikeout rate, a 7.9 percent walk rate and a 44.4 percent ground ball rate. His fastball averages 91 miles per hour, and his mix includes a four-seamer, sinker, slider, cutter, curveball and changeup.
He entered the season ranked 13th in the Mets system by Baseball America and 12th by FanGraphs, and Baseball America moved him up to 10th in its latest update on Wednesday. That upward push comes as the Mets continue to search for dependable depth behind the rotation.
The options are limited but not gone. Christian Scott is starting tonight, Nolan McLean is starting tomorrow, and the club could turn again to Manaea or Myers, both of whom have starting experience. Manaea threw four innings behind Freddy Peralta yesterday, while Myers has not gone beyond three innings in any game this year. The Mets could also look back to the farm system for Jonah Tong, Jack Wenninger or Jonathan Pintaro.
However they manage the next turn, Thornton’s arrival shows where the urgency sits now. The Mets needed an arm, and they decided the next one would come from a pitcher they have tracked since the draft rather than wait for a cleaner answer to appear.
