Why Jonah Tong's Latest Mets Outing Was Encouraging

This start for Tong comes less than a week after he made his Grapefruit League Debut on February 25 against the St. Louis Cardinals. In that start his only blemish was allowing a three-run homer against Nolan Gorman during his 2.2 innings of work.

Since spring training began, the young right-hander has made working on his cutter a top priority. Tong felt it was working for him a lot better against Nicaragua than in his previous outing against St. Louis.

"I thought the cutter was really good today, I got some swings and misses on it and also filled up the zone on it really good...thought I found my changeup, which was nice, didn't have it last outing," Tong said.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza also echoed the very same sentiment. Mendoza felt that Tong utilized and improved on the use of his cutter and changeup in this outing.

"This outing, he used that cutter a lot, which is a pitch that he's working on," Mendoza said. "It came and went, but he kept going to it. I thought he threw some changeups; he fell behind some hitters a few times, but again, I think it came down to using the pitches that he's working on."

Moving Forward

Tong is expected to start the season in Triple-A Syracuse. He posted a 7.71 ERA during five major league starts last season. However, the righty had a superb campaign in the minors in 2025.

New York has a plethora of options in the starting pitching department. This unit consists of Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson and Clay Holmes. The Mets also have Christian Scott waiting in the wings, who, like Tong, is also likely to begin the year in Triple-A. They also have Tobias Myers, who has both relief and starting pitching experience.

Tong provided a jolt of excitement after his late-season call-up last year. The tall right-hander has made it very clear on his desire to work on his cutter all throughout the spring to help him become the dominant starter the Mets know he can be at the big league level.

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