SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. ¨C Jonathan Pintaro was confused when he reached the dugout.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander was back with Glacier in the independent Pioneer League for a second straight season, hoping to take his game to a new level, and he had just completed his second inning of the day on June 2, his third start of the summer, when manager Paul Fletcher called for someone to get ready in the home bullpen at Glacier Bank Park. Pintaro had thrown at least five frames in each of his first two outings with the Range Riders and thought he had plenty left in the tank.

He did have plenty left. It was going to be used in affiliated ball instead. The Mets, Fletcher told Pintaro, had purchased his contract.

¡°He had told me some teams were interested, and I had heard some things,¡± Pintaro said. ¡°But I had no idea the Mets were one of the teams that were looking at me.¡±

Four months later, he isn¡¯t just in New York's system; he¡¯s one of its quickest risers on a path that has taken him from High-A to Triple-A and now a stint in the prospect-heavy Arizona Fall League.

Working primarily off his fastball and cutter, Pintaro was a star pitcher at Division II Shorter University in Rome, Georgia, winning National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America First Team honors in 2021 with a 2.93 ERA and 150 strikeouts over 101 1/3 innings and Second Team marks in 2022 (3.47 ERA, 136 K in 96 IP). But the numbers alone only got him so far in terms of getting professional attention, and he hoped to put himself in front of more eyes with two MLB Draft League stints with Frederick.

The numbers were more pedestrian in the college wood-bat loop -- though he did strike out 83 in 71 2/3 innings with the Keys in 2022 -- but just getting exposure to a new setting was important for the Alabama native.

¡°We had no data in college,¡± he said. ¡°I knew velos, but I had no idea of movement profiles or anything. I had no help with pitch design in college. Going into the MLB Draft League was good because I was able to look at pitch designs and movement profiles and figure out what was working.¡±

On the back of his Draft League experience, Pintaro entered the indy route with Glacier in 2023 and finished with a 6.93 ERA in 21 appearances (90 2/3 innings), and even that was another education with help from owner Marty Kelly.

¡°We had Rapsodo, Trackman, YakkerTech, HitTrax,¡± Pintaro said. ¡°He gave us everything possible to try to help us get to be the best that we could be.¡±

The more the righty dove into the numbers, the more he realized he needed to deepen his arsenal. The four-seam fastball and cutter may have been his bread and butter, but entering an age-26 season, they had only gotten him so far. With the help of Tread Athletics, Pintaro worked at a sinker, a sweeper and a changeup -- two pitches that would break armside and one with more horizontal going the other way -- hoping something could stick.

¡°I was trying every grip I could possibly find on the Internet,¡± he said.

Pintaro also spent offseason time with five-year Major Leaguer Austin Nola, who had moved nearby in Montana. The former Mariners and Padres catcher pointed out to Pintaro that he was tipping pitches in his delivery by revealing his grip in the back end of his throwing motion.

With that fixed and the additions made to his repertoire, Pintaro got off to a rollicking start back in the Pioneer League this year. When Fletcher delivered the Mets news, the hurler had struck out 23 and walked only one in 14 1/3 total innings. In a hitter-friendly, high-altitude league where the average ERA and WHIP were 7.46 and 1.78 in 2024, he posted marks of 4.40 and 0.98 in the early small sample.

That was all enough for the Mets. Pintaro¡¯s final start for Glacier was on June 2. His first appearance with High-A Brooklyn was June 6, a four-inning, 55-pitch save. One week later, he was in the Cyclones rotation. Two months later, he was promoted to Double-A Binghamton, having notched a 2.50 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 36 innings in the much more pitcher-friendly South Atlantic League. He kept similar numbers (3.18 ERA, 34 strikeouts in 34 innings) with the Rumble Ponies and finished out the regular season with one scoreless four-frame start for Triple-A Syracuse on Sept. 14.

The 89-92 mph cutter remains his primary pitch with 3-4 inches of horizontal movement, while he¡¯ll show both fastballs in the 93-95 mph range. The 82-85 mph sweeper and mid-80s changeup give him additional break in opposite directions -- much-needed after his college profile -- and he was solid against batters from both sides, surrendering zero homers to lefties over 167 plate appearances during the regular season.

Pintaro¡¯s journey mirrors that of Red Sox lefty Zach Penrod, who was signed out of the Pioneer League in August 2023 and played in the AFL that fall. The 27-year-old left-hander made his Major League debut on Sept. 14 in Yankee Stadium, less than 11 months after his Fall League experience began.

When the Mets told Pintaro of the Fall League, part of their instructions were to ¡°try to get used to using a different ball than what I had been using in the Minors.¡± That would be the Major League ball. And after ending in Triple-A, Pintaro will enter Spring Training with a shot at contributing to the Mets pitching depth.

It¡¯s a long way from an early exit in Flathead Valley, Montana.

¡°Going into Triple-A, I was so nervous,¡± Pintaro said. ¡°I was like, ¡®Man, I'm one step away from the bigs.¡¯ This is unreal.¡±