Top prospect earns Mets Minor League Player of the Year Award

Tong, 22, led all of Minor League Baseball with a 1.43 ERA, 179 strikeouts, and a .148 opponent average at the time he was called up to the majors on Aug. 29. He opened the 2025 season with Double-A Binghamton and made 20 starts there before earning a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse, where he struck out 17 over 11.2 scoreless innings in his only two outings at that level.

Despite spending the past few weeks in the majors, no one in the minors has surpassed Tong on this season’s strikeout leaderboard. He also finished second in WHIP (0.89) and arguably still holds the best ERA, but as noted by Baseball America, he technically does not qualify for the Eastern League ERA crown since he pitched only 102 innings at Double-A.

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Tong, who ranks No. 4 in the Mets’ system according to MLB Pipeline, was the second of their big three pitching prospects to debut after the trade deadline. Nolan McLean (No. 3) joined New York’s rotation on Aug. 16, and Brandon Sproat (No. 5) arrived nine days after Tong’s first start.

In his first two big league outings, Tong allowed eight runs (five earned) on nine hits, with four walks and 12 strikeouts across 11 innings. He struggled in his third start, yielding six runs and recording only two outs before being pulled, but bounced back with eight strikeouts and one unearned run over five innings this past Thursday.

McLean, 24, has delivered at least five innings in each of his first seven MLB starts while posting a 1.27 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 9.7 K/9 rate. The 25-year-old Sproat has also been effective in his first three starts, recording a 3.94 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 15 strikeouts in 16 innings.

No longer in control of their own destiny in the NL wild card race, the Mets (80-76) are counting on each of their inexperienced young starters to step up in the final week of the regular season.

Tong will start Wednesday night on the road against the Chicago Cubs, who have already clinched a postseason spot, followed by Sproat on Thursday. McLean will then take the mound in the opener of the Mets’ final three-game set against the Miami Marlins on Friday.