This top Mets prospect grew up a die-hard fan. Here’s why he could be their shortstop of the future.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — When Sammy Stafura first found out that he had been traded from the Pirates to the Mets in exchange for reliever Luke Weaver, the top shortstop prospect was in the middle of a seven-hour bus ride.

Stafura and his High-A Greensboro teammates were en route to Rome, Ga., scheduled to play the Braves’ affiliate the next day.

What followed was a travel nightmare. Stafura sat restlessly for the final four hours of that bus trip only to hop off and take an Uber for an hour and a half to the Atlanta airport. He then flew back to Greensboro and packed up all his stuff before getting back on the road to meet High-A Brooklyn for their road series in Wilmington.

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It was only then, once he got settled with his new team, that he was able to truly process the news.

Stafura grew up a Mets fan in Westchester County. He still considers himself a “die-hard” to this day, the type of fan that watches the big-league club as much as he possibly can.

Even after he was drafted in 2023 by the Reds in the second round out of Walter Panas High School in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. and subsequently dealt to the Pirates in the Ke’Bryan Hayes deal last summer, that love for the Mets never went away.

“My room was painted bright orange for the Mets,” Stafura told NJ.com ahead of his home debut with the Cyclones on Tuesday. “My mom keeps sending me photos. I was alwayswearing Mets stuff, always watching the Mets.”

Stafura’s favorite Mets memory was New York’s World Series run in 2015, watching those games with his entire neighborhood. Another was in 2024 when Stafura was watching the Mets’ thrilling comeback win over the Brewers in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series from Slovakia, where both of his parents are from. Granted, he didn’t get to see Pete Alonso’s game-winning home run live.

“The second before Devin Williams was picking his leg up [to pitch], my Wi-Fi just turned off, so I didn’t know what happened for like an hour!” Stafura said with a grin. “I was trying to scramble finding Wi-Fi and then I saw the Mets won. It was crazy!”

All that makes the onboarding process much easier for the Mets as they welcome several new prospects into the organization after their trade deadline selling spree. They won’t need to spend any time teaching Stafura about the franchise he’s now representing.

“I’m going out there and I’ll run through a wall for this team,” Stafura said. “I’m gonna give them everything I got. This is for the city. This for the town. This for everyone. This for the Mets. So, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna bring the energy and I’m gonna give 100% whatever I got that day.”

As much of a dream come true as this opportunity is for Stafura and his family, this 21-year-old shortstop has the potential to make this much more than a feel-good story.

Stafura, who is now ranked as the No. 9 prospect in New York’s farm system by Baseball America, was having a breakout summer before he was acquired by the Mets. Over 47 games with High-A Greensboro, the shortstop hit .301 with a 1.021 OPS, 19 home runs and 16 stolen bases. He homered 14 times in the month of July alone.

Don’t forget the rest of his tools. As one National League scout put it this week, Stafura’s floor is higher than most because of his speed and defense at a premium position.

Stafura flashed both of those above average skills in his home debut at Maimonides Park on Tuesday night. He flew down the line to beat out an infield single in his first at-bat. A few innings later, he knocked a ball down in the hole to his right and fired a strike across the diamond for the out.

“I think the first thing that jumps off the page with Stafura is the defense,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said on deadline day. “He’s got tremendous defensive ability. He’s a very good base runner. Can impact the game in a variety of different ways, help you win ballgames in a variety of different ways and clearly he has power as well.

“When you begin to talk about a power hitting infielder who we believe can play shortstop at a high level, that’s a player with a pretty high ceiling.”

While he’s been on fire at the plate for the last few months, Stafura isn’t a finished product offensively. The right-handed hitter is striking out nearly 30% of the time with chase and swing-and-miss tendencies that can put him in bad counts. That same scout called those trends “worrisome” and said that he’ll need a “better approach.”

So, how was Stafura able to explode for such a power surge recently then?

“Stafura is an ambush hitter,” the NL scout said. “He went a month where he got into good counts and hit the mistakes.”

Clearly the Mets are confident in Stafura’s upside. Not only did they part with Weaver, who has another year of team control and would’ve been a valuable piece of their bullpen next season if they didn’t move him, but they reportedly ate $8 million of the reliever’s remaining salary.

Asked what’s been working so well for him at the plate of late, Stafura singled out his mindset. He’s digging into the box looking to do damage — trying to hit the ball hard, far and into the gap — and the results have followed.

“I went up there thinking I’m the best, knowing that I’m the best and that’s just the attitude I brought to the field every single day past few months,” he said. “I think that’s what’s helped me a lot in the past few months. And I’m going to keep doing that every single day, going out there, trying to be aggressive, trying to battle. I’m going to play offense up there, not going to play defense.”

If this continues, don’t be surprised if Stafura gets a taste of Double-A action before the end of this season. Cyclones manager Eduardo Núñez certainly won’t be shocked if Stafura gets that call soon.

“He’s got 20 bombs and he’s hitting almost .300,” Núñez said with a smile. “He has already demonstrated that he can handle whatever is here in the South Atlantic League. Hopefully he does well for a couple days and maybe he gets a call to move up. I don’t think he needs to prove anything here.”

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