The news that the New York Mets traded to acquire Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta has inspired a variety of reactions from the fan base, most of them positive. For one specific Met, though, this news means something very different.
Rookie starter Jonah Tong was one-third of the Mets’ so-called “Big Three,” but that trio has been broken up with fellow starter Brandon Sproat moving on to Milwaukee as part of the Peralta trade. The third member of the trio, fellow right-hander Nolan McLean, has been penciled in at the top of the rotation, but Tong’s fate after this deal is very much tbd.
Tong experienced the highs and lows of a typical debut during his September call-up. His biggest success came against the San Diego Padres, when Tong threw five innings and gave up just four hits and an unearned run, and he also had some success in starts against the Cincinnati Red and Miami Marlins.
But Tong also got lit up in starts against the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs, and he looked particularly lost in the Texas start as Rangers hitters sat on his change up, which is his out pitch. The counter to that was that Tong had already pitched plenty of innings in the minors across two different levels, so the possibility that he simply ran out of gas has to be factored into those failures.
Tong will be rested and ready coming into spring training, though, and he has a chance to break camp as a part of the Mets rotation. Conventional wisdom around the club says he needs more time at Triple A, but the sense of urgency has been ratcheted up now that Sproat has moved on, and the spotlight on Tong will be shining brighter this spring.
Part of this will depend on whatever moves GM David Stearns makes before pitchers and catchers report. The Mets still have a logjam in the back of their rotation, and the list of pitchers who underperformed down the stretch last year includes starters Sean Manaea, David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga.
At least one of them will almost certainly be traded, and part of the logic behind that kind of trade could be to open up a window for Tong to make the rotation if the Mets feel he’s ready.
Tong certainly has the pitching chops to make the jump, at least in the eyes of evaluators and other experts. He goes into this season as the Mets’ #3 prospect, and he’s also rated #44 in Baseball America’s Top 100. His changeup was rated one of the top off-speed pitches by BA, but Tong still has work to do to balance out his pitching arsenal.