Mets' former first-round pick eyeing return to MLB

One of Japan's best pitchers this season is aiming to return to MLB — and it's a name that many New York Mets fans may remember.

Left-handed pitcher Anthony Kay, after a stellar season with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, will attempt a comeback to the major leagues. Prior to his two-year stay in Japan, the 30-year-old spent five seasons in MLB with two separate stints with the Mets.

Lefty Anthony Kay, the Mets' 2016 first-round pick, is expected to return to MLB after two years in Japan. He led NPB this year in groundball rate (57.8%) while setting Yokohama's single season ERA record (1.74) and pitching 155 innings. His fastball averaged 94.6 MPH.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 22, 2025

Kay signed with the BayStars on January 9, 2024 and posted a 3.42 ERA that year, with a 2.84 FIP; however, he also helped Yokohama win the 2024 Japan Series by tossing seven shutout innings in a pivotal Game 4 win. That performance set the tone for his 2025 campaign.

This year, the lefty pitched 155 innings and logged a 1.74 ERA and 2.55 FIP, with 130 strikeouts against 41 walks. Kay's ERA was the second-best in the Central League (behind Hiroto Saiki's 1.55 mark) and set a new club record. While NPB has become a more pitcher-friendly league over the past couple of years, Kay totaled an ERA- of 57 (ERA adjusted for park and league, with marks under 100 being above league average), meaning that he was impressive regardless of the environment he pitched in.

Big game Anthony Kay got it done for the BayStars in Game 1 🌟

7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 118 P, 13 Whiffs

pic.twitter.com/9bvCcNJKN7
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) October 11, 2025

It was a season where Kay seemingly put everything together, and this form is perhaps what the Mets saw almost 10 years ago.

Kay was a first-round pick by the Mets in the 2016 MLB Draft, being the 31st overall selection; the pick New York used on Kay was a compensatory pick from the Washington Nationals, who signed second baseman and 2015 NLCS MVP Daniel Murphy during the 2015-16 offseason after he rejected the Mets' qualifying offer.

By 2019, the southpaw had begun to rise through New York's system, earning a promotion from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse and representing the Mets in the 2019 All-Star Futures Game. At that year's trade deadline, however, the Mets decided to capitalize on his value. In a trade that brought Marcus Stroman to New York, Kay and fellow pitching prospect Simeon Woods-Richardson were sent to the Toronto Blue Jays.

After spending the next four seasons in Toronto and most of 2023 with the Chicago Cubs, the then 28-year-old was claimed off waivers by the Mets on September 14, 2023. Kay's second stint in Flushing included major league action, but for only three games; he pitched 3.1 innings and allowed two runs (5.40 ERA) with three strikeouts. His appearance on October 1, 2023 is his last major league appearance to date.

7 years after being drafted by the Mets and 4 years after being sent to Toronto in the Marcus Stroman trade, Anthony Kay is on for his Mets debut. pic.twitter.com/kPTEPq7YOK
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2023

Although Kay is now a completely different pitcher, it's highly unlikely that the Mets pursue a reunion with him. This may have been a pitcher they would have signed last offseason (had Kay's 2025 happened in 2024 instead) due to David Stearns' tendency to sign unproven but high-upside arms; however, after that approach failed in 2025, New York will instead look for a bona-fide ace to anchor the rotation. Given Kay's lack of MLB success before his stint overseas, he isn't the pitcher the Mets are looking for.

Nonetheless, other teams with holes in their rotations will certainly be intrigued by what Kay can do. He'll be a cheap low-risk option on the free agent market with high potential reward if his 2025 success can carry over to the major leagues.

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