Add The New York Post on Google During a September that will be defined by development and not by victories, Monday looms as a large day for the Mets.
With far less fanfare and expectation than each previous call-up, Jonah Tong will get another try.
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The righty top prospect who has finally reached a high of a roller-coaster season that has had too many lows will get the ball in Miami for his first major league appearance since June 2.
“Everybody grows up at different rates,” interim manager (and former and future player development executive) Andy Green said before Saturday’s 9-5 loss to the Giants at Citi Field.
Tong tried to grow up quickly last year, when he was the best pitcher in the entire minors leagues and rocketed all the way to the majors, where he was mostly hit hard (7.71 ERA) in five starts.
He returned to Triple-A Syracuse this year experimenting with different arm slots — his straight-over-the-top delivery made for a unique look last year — and a different pitch mix (adding a cutter while trying to be less dependent upon his fastball and changeup) — and has been a different, lesser pitcher.
As recently as July 18, Tong — then the team’s No. 1 prospect, now No. 5, according to MLB Pipeline — the 23-year-old’s Triple-A ERA was 5.83.
But Tong has pitched well in six of his past seven outings, a span in which he has owned a 2.00 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 36 innings while walking 17.
“Been really impressed with the way he’s rebounded in the second half of the season and the outings he’s strung together,” Green said of Tong, adding that part of the bounce back can be credited to Tong rediscovering a changeup that was so effective for him last year. “For him, I think it’s not the season he would have asked for, but it’s the season he can stand on to get to his next step forward.
Mets starter Jonah Tong is expected to make his MLB return on Monday against the Marlins. Robert Sabo for New York Post “For us, I think you just look for encouraging trend lines, and there’s been a number of them here lately.”
“He’s going to be with us,” Green said, “he can take the ball and continue to take the baseball.”
A.J. Ewing, who received a two-day “reset” amid a deep slump that meant he did not play Friday, responded by reaching base three times — the first time he had done so since Aug. 7 — including drilling his first home run since July 8.
“It’s all about just sticking to a plan and an approach,” said Ewing, who golfed his two-run home run off Anthony Molina in the second inning. “When good things happen, it’s not switching your plan and trying to do more. It’s just staying on it.”
Brett Baty (bases-loaded walk, two-run double in the ninth) recorded at least three RBIs in a game for the sixth time this season.
Green had no meaningful update on Devin Williams, who continues to throw but not off a mound.
The Mets are still hoping that the closer, who has been out since Aug. 7 with a shoulder strain, will return this season.
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Dozens of mascots from around baseball were on the field before the game to honor Mrs. Met, who has become the first female mascot to be elected to the Mascot Hall of Fame.
