PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Since David Stearns took over as the Mets’ president of baseball operations, the team has endeavored to be honest with players about their chances of making the team. At the beginning of this spring, club officials told Jonah Tong that, if everyone else stayed healthy, he would likely begin the season back with Triple-A Syracuse.
The official move came Tuesday, when the Mets optioned Tong with roughly two weeks remaining in camp. Tong will open the year in Syracuse with a chance to be the first man up should he pitch well.
“He’s going to pitch for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do here. Just go down there and continue to develop.”
Tong, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Mets’ No. 3 prospect and No. 48 in baseball, allowed three runs over 2 2/3 innings on Feb. 25 in his only Grapefruit League appearance. That seemed like an extension of last September, when Tong made his Major League debut in the thick of a playoff race and largely struggled, posting a 7.71 ERA over five starts.
While the Mets still have sky-high hopes for Tong, they don’t need to push his development, as they have six healthy starters in camp in Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, David Peterson and Kodai Senga. A seventh starter, Christian Scott, should also factor into the mix at some point. Over the final two weeks of Grapefruit League play, the Mets intend to stretch all seven of them out as much as possible. They will likely open the season with a six-man rotation.
As for Tong, the Mets want him to work on his curveball and slider, which he threw only sparingly during his big league debut. Still just 22 years old, Tong rose rapidly through the Minors over the past two seasons, producing a 1.43 ERA over the top two levels last year.
“We were pretty honest with him from the very beginning,” Mendoza said. “Understanding that injuries happen throughout camp, knock on wood, we’re still pretty healthy. But the most likely outcome was he was probably going to start the year in Triple-A.”