Mets' Jonah Tong making progress in minors, but maybe not enough to earn a September call-up

There’s every possibility that when Major League Baseball expands its rosters to 28 on Sept. 1, Jonah Tong won’t get a call from the Mets.

From the outside looking in, this doesn’t bode well for the affable righty, who intrigued fans last year when he bounded into Citi Field with his wide grin, “Vulcan” changeup and potentially devastating Tim Lincecum-esque delivery. Those same fans probably were troubled when he got lit up in Triple-A this year, and when his arm slot dropped, and when he couldn’t find the strike zone.

But the franchise still believes in Tong for a reason, even though he dropped from being their top-ranked prospect to No. 5, with only one of those leapfrogging players having been acquired at this year’s trade deadline.

Tong isn’t fully formed yet, and if the organization’s plan works, director of player development Andrew Christie believes the Mets can create a more complete, formidable pitcher than the one who browbeat Double-A into submission last year.

“Development is different for every player,” Christie told Newsday this week. “To be completely honest, [last year] he dominated Double-A with two pitches, and that’s just really unlikely in the big leagues as a starting pitcher . . .

“In the first part of the year, we were really trying to emphasize using the cutter more, using the curveball more, maybe a slider, and sometimes the results take a step back. I think the capability that everybody saw from Jonah last year is still in there, and hopefully by the end of this year, he’ll be a more complete pitcher than he even was last year.”

There are a few differences to note. Christie is correct in saying that Tong dominated with that fastball, made even more devastating by his over-the-top arm slot and changeup. But the cutter can be a real weapon against lefthanded hitters, and it was introduced only this year.

Now, yes, the arm slot has changed — from 64 degrees, according to Baseball Savant, to a more conventional 51 degrees. But Christie said that wasn’t so much intentional as a natural byproduct of expanding his repertoire in an effort to make him a viable big-league starter.

Sometimes things need to look a little messy before they click into place.

“I wouldn’t say we’re working to change that [arm slot],” Christie said. “I would say we’re working to understand better how he can best work from there, and maybe if the slot climbs a little bit as a result of some of the work we’re doing, OK. If it stays the same, OK. If it drops more, OK. Just as long as we get the results.”

The organization has been encouraged by recent returns and Tong’s past six starts in particular even though he gave up five homers to the Columbus Clippers on Aug. 5 (Christie notes the wind was blowing out). Otherwise, he has given up one earned run or fewer in five of his last six starts.

The walks are still a big problem — even in those six starts, he averaged about five per nine innings — but he also struck out 31 batters in 23 1⁄3 innings.

There’s another factor: Tong’s sometimes teary postgame news conferences had some questioning whether he had the mettle to survive in the majors. But despite last year’s success, this isn’t the first time he’s had to bounce back, and resilience doesn’t always look the same on everyone.

The start of his professional career was a rocky one — he didn’t post an ERA under 6 his first two seasons — but he adapted and pitched to a 3.03 ERA in 2024 before compiling a 1.43 ERA in 2025, earning him a promotion to the majors.

This year, he has a 6.11 ERA and an unsightly 5.2 walks per nine with Triple-A Syracuse. Despite recent returns, those number mean the Mets might choose to let him continue developing.

Some organizations call up their top prospects in September regardless of whether the players have gotten it together, but interim manager Andy Green, the former vice president of player development, isn’t enamored of that strategy.

“I don’t think it’s a good thing culturally to say, ‘Hey, we have a spot, come pitch,’ ” he said last week. “We have a deep belief in Jonah as a pitcher and have confidence that he’s going to play a significant role in the future. He’s still grinding, still getting better, still working, so [Triple-A] is the right spot for him right now. That could change . . .

“I managed [the Padres and] we did that repetitively. It didn’t set people up for long-term success. It [made them feel like] ‘I’m here because there’s a hole on the team . . . ’

“I think all these guys that are here, one reason they’re performing well is because they’ve all earned the right to be here and they’ve shown they can outperform the minor leagues.”

But that doesn’t mean Tong’s time is running out.

“It’s a little more nuanced than ERA,” Christie said. “He’s getting back to a better fastball shape and velocity and has been really willing to use [all] his pitches.”

Just as importantly, he’s starting to look like himself.

“I talked to our [minor league] pitching coordinator Kyle Rogers about this and the last six or so starts, when you watch the game, it feels like you’re watching Jonah again from last year,” Christie said. “He has these funny quirks on the mound where he’s sticking the landing or spinning off, and I think he feels the confidence to lean into who he is again, and part of that is just evolving.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.