Jonah Tong’s Potential Call-Up for the Mets

In the latest buzz around the Mets, Jonah Tong is emerging as a potential starting pitcher from the minors. This right-hander experienced an injury during his outing against Triple-A Syracuse, but Mets manager Carlos Mendoza remains optimistic about Tong’s chance to pitch against the Marlins in Miami this weekend. This would help give their starting rotation a bit of extra rest.

The Mets have quite a busy schedule ahead, with 16 straight days of games. They’ve already brought up pitchers Christian Scott and Zach Thornton from Syracuse this season.

Thornton made his Major League debut recently, though it was in a disappointing 8-4 loss to the Nationals. It seems like the Mets are mulling over whether they should add more starters to the roster.

“We’re exploring how much we can stretch our starters in the bullpen, so everything is on the table,” Mendoza mentioned after the Mets’ loss. He added, “Ideally, we’d want those starters to have a bit more rest, but they have to be ready for whatever the team needs.”

Tong has started nine games this season, with a rather high ERA of 5.68. His last game wasn’t great—he gave up six earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“He has been a bit inconsistent, but we like how he bounces back,” said Mendoza. “We saw this last year; he had some tough outings but managed to recover well for the next game. We believe in him and have been saying he’ll help us out. He’s been waiting for this opportunity, and I’m confident it’ll come soon.”

At just 22, Tong had a rocky start last season too, with a 7.71 ERA over five games for the Mets. The team is keeping a close eye on his development.

Meanwhile, AJ Minter has pitched back-to-back games for Syracuse recently. He’s expected to pitch again for Syracuse this weekend before potentially joining the Mets’ roster. After undergoing surgery last year for a torn latissimus dorsi muscle, he was on the verge of returning but had to pause due to hip discomfort.

Interestingly, the Mets have shown resilience this season, winning each of the last six games after trailing. In total, they’ve secured 13 come-from-behind victories, which is quite impressive, ranking them fourth in Major League Baseball.