Mets Top Prospect Jonah Tong: Canada’s Next Wonder

When fans take a glance at Mets pitching prospect Jonah Tong’s 2025 season so far, they might be blown away by his 1.50 ERA and 14.3 K/9 in 102 innings between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. But he sees it through the lens of something else.

“From a result standpoint, I never really look at it,” Tong said. “And I think that’s what helps me.”

The 22-year old right hander will look back on this season through the developments made to an already dominant arsenal.

“The slider is a new one. It’s been a it’s been a battle for me, especially going to this year, but I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress.” Tong said of his breaking ball. “The changeup has been the thing that’s come so far. I think that it’s just been a really good pitch for me.”

Tong offers a four-seamer, slider, curveball and changeup. Three of the four pitches feature a 50 grade future value or higher, according to Just Baseball.

Our #4 Mets organizational prospect and #47 overall is poised to become a star on the mound in Queens. But before he got to this point, he was mastering his craft up north.

Canadian roots

Tong grew up in Markham, Ontario – a suburb tucked just north of Toronto. He attended Bill Crothers Secondary School in nearby Unionville – a school so dominant in the local athletics scene, students like Tong are prohibited from playing baseball.

Per the school’s website, students must submit a “primary sport,” defined as the sport they play at the highest level, to the York Regional Athletics Association. Students are not allowed to play their primary sports at the high school level.

“It was built as a sports school, so all the athletes went there,” Tong explained. “And they won every event known to man pretty much.”

Unable to pitch for his school, Tong instead tried out for the badminton team, but didn’t make it past the first round of tryouts.

Thankfully, he was allowed to play travel ball growing up. Coincidentally, he spent many years for the Toronto Mets of the Canadian Premiere Baseball League, a team that welcomes players ages 13 through 18.

“You play fall ball for your travel team, which is September, October, and maybe a little bit into November, depending if it’s warm enough,” Tong said, “Then you play from May to August for your regular season.”

Over to the U.S.

In his age-19 season, Tong was beginning to appear on the radars of colleges and MLB organizations. Leading up to the 2022 draft, he decided it was time to leave Canada to make a final push to start the next chapter of his career.

He transferred to Georgia Premier Academy, where he pitched for two-and-a-half months in 2022. This was a new experience for Tong; not just calling a new country is home, but pitching with a different goal in mind.

“You’re trying to make impressions in prep ball,” Tong said. “And then after that, you just kind of shift your gears towards development.”

Tong pitched to a 1.63 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 30 innings during his time in Georgia. As the draft approached, he saw a future going back north to pitch at North Dakota State University.

“I thought it was like a, maybe, like 5% possibility I was getting drafted,” Tong said. “I honestly was so committed to going to college the day before the draft.”

He was later taken in the seventh round of the 2022 draft by the New York Mets. Despite prior plans to stay in school, he opted to instead take the contract one month after his 19th birthday.

“[The Mets] have a really good grasp, not only of the game, but just like of how to optimize your like delivery pitches and stuff like that,” Tong said. “But at the same time, tailoring it to what you do best.

“I think that was something I always thought you had to change,” he continued. “How you’re throwing to be like somebody else, rather than bettering the part.”

Adjusting to pro ball

Finding his footing in a minor leagues was not easy for Tong. In his debut season of 2023, he posted a 6.00 ERA with 22 walks in 21 innings Rookie ball and Low-A. He was not only adjusting to playing in a new region, but also learning to go through the grind of the full season.

“The thing that we didn’t understand was just how long a season actually is,” Tong said, “For instance, you feel like when you go out there in March you’re supposed to be 100% ready. In reality, you’re not, and they tell you that.”

“But being a naive high school kid, I used to think like, ‘oh, you’d be ready at the gate, yeah,'” he recounted. “But then knowing that you have to be ready from March through till September is a long time, so just being diligent.”

Tong took those lessons into 2024, a year in which he logged a 3.03 ERA in 113 innings while jumping from low-A to Double-A in the process.

This brings us to 2025, where Tong has dominated Double-A and found his way to Syracuse at age 22. Throughout the year, his 1.67 FIP, 40.8% strikeout rate and 29.8% K-BB% all lead the 247 minor league pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched this year. His 1.50 ERA ranks third on the same list.

Overall, his 37.4% career K% ranks third-highest among the 6,505 pitches with at least 200 Minor League innings logged since 2006. His 2.29 FIP ranks second on the same list.

“You always dream of it, you always hope for it, but at the same time, the only thing I really focus on were just being where my feet are,” Tong said, “If I can do that, I feel like I have a lot of success. And so far this year, I think I’ve done a really good job.”

Tong mentioned the development of his changeup and slider as part of what has made 2025 so successful for him. In his first Triple-A start on Aug. 16, the 31 changeups he threw recorded a Called Strike + Whiff rate of 54.8%. In the majors this year, only Tarik Skubal on June 29 has recorded a higher CSW% on a changeup in any game with at least 25 of them thrown.

The road ahead

Tong’s recent callup to Triple-A paves a clear pathway for him to be a key contributor on the Mets roster in 2026. With a lot ahead of him, Tong chooses to look at the future through the basics.

When asked where he wants to be at this point next year, Tong said, “It’s funny, I’m gonna say healthy. I think I’m most excited about just getting the see a new challenge. I think a big one for me this off season.”

“Getting back to that weight room and trying to better myself there,” he continued. “And then obviously put in a lot more time, focus wise, on the other secondaries.”