Mets pitching prospect Jonah Tong made his second Triple-A start Saturday night and continued to impress, tossing six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts for Syracuse against Indianapolis.
The 22-year-old let up back-to-back singles to open the game, but got a double play and a strikeout to avoid early damage. He allowed a double and a walk in the second before retiring the next 12 batters, cruising through the fifth inning. Tong was tested in the sixth inning, finding himself in a jam with runners on second and third base. The righty maintained his composure after a mound visit and struck out Rafael Flores to end the frame and keep it a 3-0 game.
Overall, Tong allowed five hits and walked one over 88 pitches (63 strikes) with 21 swing-and-misses. His fastball topped out at 97.6 mph.
The top prospect dazzled in his first outing with Syracuse on Aug. 16, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. He allowed just three hits and two walks. Over two Triple-A starts, Tong has tossed 11.2 scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts and 39 swing-and-misses (h/t Joe DeMayo).
While New York has been hesitant to promote prospects to the majors too early, Tong may be up sooner than later, according to the NY Post's Mike Puma.
"The wind has shifted in the Mets organization in recent days regarding Jonah Tong," Puma wrote Saturday evening. "His name is entering the conversation for this season."
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has also said he'd prefer to have a spot in the rotation open up for multiple starts, instead of a spot-start and the prospect being sent back down to the minors.
Fellow top pitching prospect Nolan McLean has impressed over his first two major league starts and it's been expected that Brandon Sproatwould be the next starter to be promoted. The Mets' rotation currently consists of Clay Holmes (pitching Saturday night), David Peterson, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, and McLean. To make room for Sproat or potentially even Tong, New York could move Holmes to the bullpen and then would have to make a decision on other bullpen pitchers like Ryne Stanek, Reed Garrett, or Huascar Brazoban, who was recalled on Saturday.
Jonah Tong had another excellent outing for Triple-A Syracuse tonight 🔥
His final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K pic.twitter.com/WuKPe15sIa— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 24, 2025