Jonah Tong In Place For Call-Up Entering Miami Series
- Dominic Konareski
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The Mets scratched their second-ranked prospect Jonah Tong from his scheduled start for Triple-AAA Syracuse on Wednesday. This comes with New York having possible plans to insert the righty this weekend in Miami for what would be a spot start.
New York is 6-4 in their last 10 games played and overall sit a game out of fourth place in the NL East from Miami. The Mets are overall in a stretch of 16 games in 16 days and would like to give their starters some rest – although that may be achieved with help from mother nature with rain in the forecast for today’s game against Washington.
A rainout would lessen the need for Tong, who has struggled since being called up late last season in what was his major league debut. The top pitching prospect was clearly rushed last season, and seemingly has not been able to recover. Through nine starts with Syracuse this season, Tong has acquired a 5.68 ERA.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said before Wednesday’s game that the team is keeping Tong in play. “There’s a chance that he plays a part in the Miami series for us,” said Mendoza. At some point over this upcoming weekend Tong may get the call back up to the bigs for a start or even some long relief work. New York scratched Tong to keep the option open to use him if need be.
For weeks the Canadian-born Tong has worked to make mechanical adjustments that New York ultimately believes is the root cause of his struggles. Tong’s last appearance in AAA saw six earned runs across the plate.
The Mets only have two other pitchers on their 40-man, Jonathan Pintario and Dylan Ross, who could get the call up this weekend instead of Tong. Of that trio though, Tong undoubtedly is the most capable of providing the most length.
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