Drew Gilbert's afternoon at the ballpark ended very early Wednesday ... and it's all 'cause he got nailed in the junk by a wayward breaking ball.
The painful pitch happened just after the New York Mets top prospect stepped up to the dish in the first inning of Syracuse's minor league tilt with Rochester.
Check out footage from the game's broadcast ... on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Thaddeus Ward's sweeper got away from him, and beelined toward Gilbert's family jewels.