Vasil Strives to Love the Process and Accept Failure in Path Through Minors

Editor's note: This article initially appeared in the June edition of the Rumble Ponies' gameday program “Who’s Next?” It has been slightly edited to reflect Mike Vasil's promotion to Triple-A Syracuse. Vasil took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his ninth start for the Syracuse Mets on August 8 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

By Matt Levine

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – New York Mets’ top pitching prospect Mike Vasil is focused on where his feet are, as he strives to love the process and accept failure along his path up the minor league ladder.

“I think failure is a part of this game,” Vasil said. “It’s the only way to really get better.”

The 23-year-old was dominant in his first season at the Double-A level and earned a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse on June 12. Vasil was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for May, after pitching to a 2.52 ERA and 0.72 WHIP across four starts in the month. In 10 starts for Binghamton, he held a Minor League-leading 0.87 WHIP, a 3.71 ERA, a 57-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and opponents hit .187 against him.

“It definitely means a lot,” Vasil said. “You’d like to look back at those things at the end of the season and see them stack up … but on the flip side [I’m] just staying present where my feet are and just taking it one day at a time.”

Vasil was drafted by the Mets in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of the University of Virginia. The Boston native left his mark with the Cavaliers, fanning eight batters while allowing just one run over seven innings against Texas in the College World Series, his final start before being drafted by New York.

As Vasil continues to get more recognition as he moves up levels in the minor leagues, the Mets’ top pitching prospect and No. 9 overall prospect tries to stick to his plan and be present.

“You obviously want to get to where you have been working to go,” he said. “Staying where your feet are is like really embracing the process every day.”

Vasil recalled his freshman year at Virginia and how tough it was on him. He remembered how he came out of that and what that felt like for him. It was the feeling of failure and the feeling of triumph that helped Vasil learn how to be present.

“I remember how I came out of that and how I felt then and the way I felt once I started succeeding again,” he said. “That’s when I realized what it really meant to be present every day.”

It took a mix of a lot of hard work, studying himself, and a lot of mental work to pull himself out of that funk as a freshman. Going through this process in his first year of college also helped him find even more of a love for baseball.

“It was just a lot of focus and believing in myself,” Vasil said. “And I think finding the love for baseball. I think that’s a huge thing. I really think if you love what you’re doing it really makes it easier.”

Being able to find that love and fight through a funk, he realized how important it was to love the process. Loving the process and accepting failure helped Vasil dominate in the month of May for Binghamton, en route to his Eastern League award.

“Towards the end of April and getting into May, I was really just staying true to my process and my plan heading into each outing,” Vasil said. “Sometimes in this game when you stay true to your process and what you’re doing, a lot of times it works out … This is a very process-oriented game, and you have to really stay true to what you’re doing, stay consistent every day and just trust your plan.”

Vasil thinks that a big part of his game and what he does is his routine in between starts. His daily work sets up each week for him. When Vasil comes to the ballpark every day, he thinks about what he is going to do and what his focus will be for that day.

“I think when you get to that point, when you get out on the mound the game really slows down,” he said. “You are also able to rely on things you spent time on during the week and I think I am realizing that now as I get older.”

Vasil hopes to pitch for the Mets in the near future but in order to get to where he wants to be, he believes he has to take care of business where he is now. Zeroing in on his process and routine, while accepting the funks that the game of baseball can throw at him is something that he has come to learn as he grows through the game.

“It’s the only sport where you can succeed three times out of 10 or have guys score on you and you’re still having a successful outing,” Vasil said. “It’s just a game based off failure, but that’s how you get better. You have to accept failure and almost in a way view it as an opportunity to get better, and [find] what you can learn and how you can grow from it.”