Things Just Took A MAJOR Turn For Jonah Tong...

Things just took a major turn for Jonah Tong. After struggling for most of the season at AAA, he has finally rounded into form over the past month, delivering his best outing of the season yesterday. And with David Stearns evaluating who is in the Mets' future plans, he has a serious decision to make as to if and when Jonah Tong should be called up to the New York Mets and in the starting rotation for the remainder of this season. What's going on, guys? I'm Josh Byrne, you're tuned into Mets Digest. Guys, thanks so much for all the support and all the engagement over recent days, weeks, and months, as we continue to provide you daily updates here at Digest Media, and I do appreciate each and every one of you. So, Jonah Tong is a guy that had one of the most dominant minor league pitching seasons in recent memory last season, pitching to an ERA around 1.7, and that earned him a promotion to the major league level during the latter juncture of the 2025 season. And the thinking was there's no reason for this guy not to be a breakout star for 2026 and beyond, and to be a frontline piece moving forward for the Mets' rotation. Well, things are unpredictable, especially in baseball and life, and it doesn't mean that that won't end up being the case for Jonah Tong, but this year it has been a rocky road for him, and it's been largely because he's had to change things up. He's been introduced to a new cutter, also been throwing his curveball more, and he's been basically a different pitcher. He's still got that really good fastball, that really good change-up, but him adapting to basically two new pitches that he's implementing in his arsenal at once has given him some more inconsistent and, at times, very poor results. And his numbers, especially in June when he was recalled up to down to the AAA Syracuse Mets, were really not very good. But during July, and especially during August, things have turned around, and it culminated in his best outing of the season yesterday. This is what Syracuse Mets excitedly tweeted out. Jonah Tong, take a bow. Coming up one out away from a no-hitter, Jonah Tong delivered an incredible performance. And what has been so amazing for this AAA Syracuse Mets team is that Tong had a one-hit performance yesterday. Syracuse Mets one-hit their opponent, and then today they actually did finish the job and had a cumulative no-hitter. But this is from MLB Pipeline tweeting, a 2-0 ERA, 176 batting average against 42 strikeouts. Mets No. 5 prospect Jonah Tong has dominated over his past seven starts, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh on Saturday AAA. Those are elite numbers. And that's seven starts. That's a somewhat extended period of time. And when you look at the total stats on the season for Jonah Tong, they're still not super pretty. A 4-5-4 ERA is not incredibly impressive. But when you look at the game log over the past two months, notice at the top we have July, that 365 number. That's his ERA during the month of July, which was a incredible improvement over where he was earlier in the season, specifically in June and also in April where he struggled as well. And then look at these starts in August. The first four, yeah, he's not going super deep into games, but after having a rough one versus the Colorado AAA affiliate, he gives up one run in four innings on August 11th, one run in four and two thirds, and then five and two thirds of shutout ball. And then of course yesterday, seven shutout innings, just one hit, just two walks and eight strikeouts. And the question is, you know, at this point, is he just ready to go? Are things finally coming together for Jonah Tong? And maybe finally is not the right word. I mean, the guy's only 23 years old. He's still developing. But again, it was unexpected that he would be struggling this year and that he wouldn't have made the kind of contribution at the major league level that we would have expected had you asked many Mets fans a year ago when he was coming off of a dominant season in the minor leagues. But, you know, every pitcher develops differently and he has been a different guy this past month plus than he was earlier in the season. This is Ernest Dove's take on the matter. He said that I won't declare Jonah Tong fixed because of his current four-start hot streak, but how do you not have him finish this lost season in the rotation? And I totally agree with that because, I mean, guys, Robert Stock, no disrespect, we don't need to be seeing him every five days. He's had a couple of nice performances and maybe he can continue to work his way into the Mets' plans next season as a bulk reliever or maybe a spot starter here and there. I don't mind that. But there's no reason to continue to pencil him in as the fifth starter for the Mets for the final month of this year. This is an evaluation period. I've mentioned it multiple times. It's, you know, it's not the time to be favoring these veterans with little value long term over your fifth most valuable prospect in Jonah Tong and your top pitching prospect. I mean, some people have Santucci ahead of Tong, but nonetheless, Tong is certainly closer to the major league level than Santucci is. We've already seen Tong in multiple stints at the major league level and he's not getting any younger. Yes, he's still only 23, but we need to start seeing another extended look at what Tong can do in the major leagues. And now it feels like it's the best time to do so. Why? Because he's done this over the past two-month period, culminating in the seven shutout innings yesterday. Two, because Robert Stock also just hasn't been very good. Yeah, he had a couple good performances as I said, but overall he's put up a 7-4 ERA. He has not exactly been Sandy Koufax out there. So I don't see what the risk is, especially because the Mets aren't fighting for a playoff spot anyways, to have Jonah Tong just take the mound every fifth day, get four or five starts in to round out the season. I think it would do a lot for his confidence if he can have some success at the major league level to close out 2026. And it would also do a lot for David Stearns in having an idea as to how to build out this rotation. We have seen great contributions from Christian Scott. Yeah, he's been struggling a little more recently, but I would say this was a win for Christian Scott this year in his development. Zach Thornton had another solid start today, five innings, two runs. Not his best, but he has a 2-9-3 ERA in the season. And Nolan McLean has been stupendous over the past two months and looks to be a solid one or two option in the Mets rotation moving forward. But now it not that four or five starts will be a conclusive example of what he's capable of, but now it is time to at least see another real look of Jonah Tong in the starting rotation. And frankly, what he's done in the major league so far is not really conclusive of anything, and to me is very minimal in its meaning because he's only made eight appearances, five starts, and he's pitched 28 and two-thirds innings to a 6-2-8 ERA. Obviously not good, but guys, that's just such a small sample size. And after what happened yesterday with Jonah Tong just pitching a gem, seems incredibly obvious and a no-brainer at this point that Jonah Tong needs to take his next start at the major league level. And I hope that David Stearns has the common sense to pull the trigger on this and make it happen because it would be exciting to see how the right-hander for the Mets can improve himself at the highest level and essentially audition for a spot in the 2027 Mets starting rotation. Let me know what you guys think about the idea of calling up Jonah Tong right now. Do you believe he deserves it? Do you believe he should finish out the season at AAA? And do you see him as a serious contributor for the Mets next season in the rotation? Comment below, let me know, and as always guys, let's go Mets.