NEW YORK -- The Mets' projections for the 2025 season did not include asking a 22-year-old prospect to bounce back from a disastrous start and defeat a postseason-bound club in the middle of a heated wild-card race. But that's where the Mets, attempting to avoid an historic collapse with a $340 million roster, found themselves Thursday against the San Diego Padres.
They needed Jonah Tong, a baby-faced right-hander making his fourth career start, to forget about not surviving the first inning against the Texas Rangers last week and to give them a chance to win. And Tong responded with the best performance of his nascent major league career, holding the Padres to four hits and one unearned run over five innings in the Mets' 6-1 victory at Citi Field.
The Mets won two of three games in the series and took a two-game lead on the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final National League wild-card spot with nine games remaining.
"That's the guy we saw at the minor league level pretty much the whole year," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Tong was arguably the best pitcher in the minor leagues this season, posting a 1.43 ERA in 113⅔ innings across Double-A and Triple-A. The sheer dominance, combined with injuries and underperformance plaguing New York's starting rotation, pushed Mets executives to significantly alter their timeline for Tong, who wasn't even invited to big league camp in spring training, and call him up.
He stumbled in his third outing last Friday against the Rangers, surrendering six earned runs over just two-thirds of an inning, and was visibly emotional postgame. But the Mets did not waver in giving him another opportunity -- a testament to both Tong's talent and the club's dire situation.
In Tuesday's series opener against San Diego, the Mets had Sean Manaea, one of their top two projected starters, piggyback Clay Holmes, a converted reliever, in a win. On Wednesday, David Peterson, an All-Star this season, continued his second-half slide by yielding six runs over five innings in a loss.
Meanwhile, Kodai Senga, the Mets' other projected frontline starter, was scheduled to make his second start with Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday after scuffling so badly since July that he agreed to be optioned to work on his mechanics. Mendoza on Thursday indicated that Senga's place on the Mets' postseason roster -- should they reach the postseason -- is not guaranteed.
"I think we'll have the conversations and we'll take the best 13 guys that we feel are going to give us the best chance to win baseball games in October," Mendoza said.
Tong then took the mound for Thursday's matinee with a simple emphasis from first pitch: attack hitters. The game plan to accomplish that wound up being a heavier dose of four-seam fastballs. Last week, just 16 of Tong's 40 pitches were fastballs (40%). On Thursday, 55 of his 82 pitches were fastballs (67%). They averaged 94.4 mph with an elite-level 20-inch induced vertical break from his unorthodox over-the-top delivery. Seven of his eight strikeouts came on the pitch, and he didn't issue a walk as he threw 59 of his 82 pitches for strikes.
"I threw a lot more strikes," Tong said. "I just think, from the very first pitch, having the confidence to just attack hitters and I feel like I did a better job of that this time around."
Said Mendoza: "He got in a rhythm but then he got ahead and then he kept attacking. As opposed to letting hitters get back in counts where he really has to execute pitches. He wasn't messing around."
When Tong's work was officially over, and with the Mets holding 5-1 lead, the oversized videoboard overlooking center field at Citi Field flashed a fact that roused the crowd: Tong became the first Mets pitcher aged 22 or younger to throw eight strikeouts in a game since Noah Syndergaard in 2015. Next, the board showed eight K's on the strikeout meter down the left-field line, each covered by a red Canadian maple leaf in a nod to Tong's home country. The crowd roared.
"He was poised the entire day," said Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who homered for the fourth straight game in the first inning. "Looked like, from the right off the rip, since I showed up to the yard, he was pretty locked in today. Really stoked for him. Those bounce-back outings are huge for development."
Tong attempted to minimize the challenge in overcoming last week's struggle. He recalled having to rebound from a dreadful showing last season when he gave up five runs on four hits and recorded just one out. But that was a High-A matchup between the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Jersey Shore BlueClaws in June. These stakes are miles higher, and the Mets are unexpectedly counting on him in their pursuit of October.
"Every win we can get is huge," said Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo, who hit a three-run home run in the third inning. "This is playoff baseball for us, and that's a playoff team, and I thought we did a really good job against them this season."