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He entered Friday’s game maybe a little later than fans expected, but Mets right-hander Jonah Tong looked fantastic in his season debut against the Miami Marlins.
Tong, promoted on Friday morning with the expectation of pitching at some point during the weekend series in Miami, finished the series opener by going three scoreless innings and facing the minimum while striking out two.
In a game in which New York’s pitching shined with the offense letting the team down, Tong looked the most impressive on the mound in his first MLB outing since his cup of coffee with the Mets at the end of last season.
“Great,” Tong said about being back with the big league club. “It was awesome to be out there with the boys again.”
There’s no doubt that Tong has the potential to be a special pitcher for the Mets, but after his promotion last year which followed his meteoric rise through the minor league system and ended with him making five starts for New York and pitching to a 7.71 ERA (1.77 WHIP), it’s good to see the 22-year-old return with a flourish.
In fact, not only did Tong struggle at times in his first taste at the big league level, he had a 5.68 ERA this season in nine starts at Triple-A.
“Very encouraging,” said manager Carlos Mendoza about Tong’s outing. “The velo, the fastball, the way that it was playing. The changeup was good, he attacked, the curveball. He gave us a chance.”
In the end, the Mets lost 2-1 after their offense, outside of Juan Soto, couldn’t muster much of anything.
But Tong, who entered in the sixth inning with his team down a run, kept the Marlins hitless over three innings in his first appearance as a reliever since 2024, when he was pitching for Single-A St. Lucie.
Nevertheless, the youngster wasn’t going to let that stop him from returning with a vengeance.
“I’ve done it in the past, especially growing up,” Tong said about pitching in relief “… Treat it no different and I’m thankful for all the vets that are around here and it’s just allowed me to have someone to talk to.”
While Tong is certainly surrounded by experienced veterans on the team who he can lean on, there are also a bunch of other rookies with the club now that might make him feel at ease, too.
Three of those rookies, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Nick Morabito, actually flanked the outfield together for the first time this season.
“All rookie outfield today, which I thought was really special,” Tong said. “I was talking to [Morabito] on the bus today and I just said like it happens very rarely, especially for all these guys coming up around the same time, so it was awesome.”
As for his own growth and how he’s changed as a pitcher since looking a bit overwhelmed at times in the majors, Tong has definitely used that experience to help him improve, but also believes the road to reaching one’s full potential can be bumpy and he isn’t dismayed by the results he saw last year.
“Development is never a straight line and I just think that [I need to] stick with the process,” he said. “Our coaches down in Triple-A have always preached that and they have all the confidence in me, so why not have the confidence in myself?”
If Tong can continue to pitch like he did on Friday night, he will earn the confidence of more than just his Triple-A coaches.
Continue reading...
Tong, promoted on Friday morning with the expectation of pitching at some point during the weekend series in Miami, finished the series opener by going three scoreless innings and facing the minimum while striking out two.
In a game in which New York’s pitching shined with the offense letting the team down, Tong looked the most impressive on the mound in his first MLB outing since his cup of coffee with the Mets at the end of last season.
“Great,” Tong said about being back with the big league club. “It was awesome to be out there with the boys again.”
There’s no doubt that Tong has the potential to be a special pitcher for the Mets, but after his promotion last year which followed his meteoric rise through the minor league system and ended with him making five starts for New York and pitching to a 7.71 ERA (1.77 WHIP), it’s good to see the 22-year-old return with a flourish.
In fact, not only did Tong struggle at times in his first taste at the big league level, he had a 5.68 ERA this season in nine starts at Triple-A.
“Very encouraging,” said manager Carlos Mendoza about Tong’s outing. “The velo, the fastball, the way that it was playing. The changeup was good, he attacked, the curveball. He gave us a chance.”
In the end, the Mets lost 2-1 after their offense, outside of Juan Soto, couldn’t muster much of anything.
But Tong, who entered in the sixth inning with his team down a run, kept the Marlins hitless over three innings in his first appearance as a reliever since 2024, when he was pitching for Single-A St. Lucie.
Nevertheless, the youngster wasn’t going to let that stop him from returning with a vengeance.
“I’ve done it in the past, especially growing up,” Tong said about pitching in relief “… Treat it no different and I’m thankful for all the vets that are around here and it’s just allowed me to have someone to talk to.”
While Tong is certainly surrounded by experienced veterans on the team who he can lean on, there are also a bunch of other rookies with the club now that might make him feel at ease, too.
Three of those rookies, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Nick Morabito, actually flanked the outfield together for the first time this season.
“All rookie outfield today, which I thought was really special,” Tong said. “I was talking to [Morabito] on the bus today and I just said like it happens very rarely, especially for all these guys coming up around the same time, so it was awesome.”
As for his own growth and how he’s changed as a pitcher since looking a bit overwhelmed at times in the majors, Tong has definitely used that experience to help him improve, but also believes the road to reaching one’s full potential can be bumpy and he isn’t dismayed by the results he saw last year.
“Development is never a straight line and I just think that [I need to] stick with the process,” he said. “Our coaches down in Triple-A have always preached that and they have all the confidence in me, so why not have the confidence in myself?”
If Tong can continue to pitch like he did on Friday night, he will earn the confidence of more than just his Triple-A coaches.
Continue reading...
