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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NEW YORK – Jonathan Pintaro went from the cozy hometown ballparks of Double A to the bright lights of Citi Field in a matter of days as he realized his dream of playing big league baseball.

The New York Mets called up Pintaro to their active roster on Wednesday, June 25, and just hours removed from earning his first call to the majors, he made his MLB debut against the Atlanta Braves in a 7-3 win the same night.

“It’s been unreal,” Pintaro said to MLB.com of his journey. “It’s been a dream come true.”

Pintaro came in at the start of the ninth inning as the fourth reliever out of the bullpen to see out a 7-1 lead. However, he had a rocky start, walking Ozzie Albies in his first big-league at-bat and allowing a single from Alex Verdugo to put two on with one out.

Pintaro forced a sharp groundout that he caught at first to make the first out, and he continued rolling by recording his first major-league strikeout. He got Nick Allen out swinging on a 93-mph cutter just outside the bottom left corner of the strike zone.

The Braves did tag Pintaro for two runs on his debut. After the groundout moved both runners to scoring position, Ronald Acuna Jr. singled to left to clear the bases and cut the deficit to 7-3.

A walk to Matt Olson ended the day for Pintaro after 0.2 innings, leaving his final stat line at two earned runs off two hits and two walks along with his first career strikeout. Edwin Diaz came in to secure the final force out and the save.

A Pelham native and Montevallo High School alum, Pintaro rocketed his way to the major leagues as he went from independent ball to making his MLB debut in a little more than a year.

He first earned his contract with the Mets on June 2, 2024 after a torrid run with the Pioneer Baseball League’s Glacier Range Riders. He received news of his contract in the middle of his start that day after throwing two scoreless innings.

Pintaro quickly debuted with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones on June 6, 2024 and moved all the way up to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets before the end of the season. He ended 2024 with a 2.68 ERA in 17 appearances and 74 innings across three different levels, securing a 1.16 WHIP while opponents batted just .216.

He started the 2025 season in Double-A with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and recorded a 3.40 ERA across 11 starts with 57 strikeouts, a 1.11 WHIP and .212 opponent batting average.

Pintaro was called up to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday, June 24 in anticipation of a potential need in the major-league bullpen. That need came after the Braves shelled the Mets bullpen on Tuesday night, leading New York to call up its No. 22-ranked prospect.

Pintaro was reassigned to Syracuse following the relief appearance and will make his Triple-A season debut in the coming days in anticipation of his next call-up to Queens.