The Mets picked pitching over and over again in this year's draft, and on July 16 they made it official with their sixth-rounder. Alex Petrovic, a righty out of Auburn, signed for full slot value of $364,600 at pick 181, according to MLB Draft insider Jim Callis.
6th-rder Alex Petrovic signs w/@Mets for $364,600 (full slot 181 value). @AuburnBaseballRHP, strike thrower w/low-90s fastball up to 96 mph and a quality low-80s changeup w/fade & sink. @MLBDraft
Petrovic isn't a projectable arm the Mets are betting on down the line, he's a guy who already did the job in the SEC. He made all 17 of his starts for Auburn this past season, going 10-2 with a 3.21 ERA across 92.2 innings while striking out 92 and walking just 24. That strike-to-walk ratio is exactly the calling card scouts pegged on him, a pitcher who pounds the zone and lets his stuff play up because hitters can't sit back and wait him out.
What made 2026 different for Petrovic was health. After dealing with injury trouble earlier in his college career, he made it through a full, healthy season for the first time, and his stuff ticked up as a result. The fastball now touches 96 instead of sitting purely in the low 90s, and he's paired it with a changeup evaluators like enough to call a legitimate weapon, plus a sweeper and cutter to round out the mix.
Getting him done at exactly slot isn't a headline-grabbing overpay, but it's a clean, no-drama outcome for both sides. The Mets don't have to sweat a negotiation with their bonus pool, and Petrovic locks in his money instead of testing the waters elsewhere. For a sixth-rounder who started every week for a Power Conference team, that's about as tidy as it gets.
This is part of a bigger pattern for New York's 2026 class, which leaned heavily on college arms who can move fast if the stuff and command both hold. A strike-throwing college starter with a mid-90s fastball and a real changeup is exactly the kind of profile player development departments love, because there's less projection required and more just refining what's already there. Don't expect Petrovic's name to pop on prospect lists overnight, but arms like this are how systems get restocked with usable pitching depth without needing a first-round pedigree.