Mets Have a Jonah Tong Change to Make After the Trade Deadline

The Mets are putting themselves in a predicament. After the trade deadline on Aug. 3, there will be two slots wide open in their starting rotation. How exactly will they fill those?

On Friday, the Mets turned to Kodai Senga, even after his constant struggle as a starter, doing so after scratching Freddy Peralta due to his market heating up.

Surprisingly, Senga’s outing wasn’t all that bad despite what the box score showed, throwing four scoreless innings on just 33 pitches, striking out four batters without surrendering a walk. However, the fifth inning is where things flipped sideways, Senga walking the first two batters of the inning, followed by a one-run double from Jacob Marsee to end his outing.

Last-minute rotation replacement Kodai Senga gave the Mets four shutout innings today, before fading in the fifth. It was one of Senga's most promising outings of the season.

Should be interesting to see what the Mets do with Senga once Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes are traded. pic.twitter.com/Lqr9SVT3x0
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 1, 2026

For the other spot, there’s always the prospect route, but at the moment, there aren’t many realistic options to get the call.

Senga will likely start going forward, giving the Mets someone to at least opem games, even if it results in a total disaster. No. 2 prospect Jonathan Santucci has dominated in the minors this season. Still, it would be wild to allow the 23-year-old to start major league games just days after his promotion to Triple-A, right?

That leaves the Mets with one realistic option: No. 1 prospect Jonah Tong. While the 23-year-old has been given a minimal shot at the major league level, they’ve yet to let him get a real run, especially in a situation with very low pressure.

How Jonah Tong can impact the Mets going forward

His very first MLB gig came amid the Mets' playoff push, with the team desperately needing SP help, calling upon three rookies who had never seen action at the highest level. For Tong, it wasn’t pretty, going 2-3 through five starts with an ERA of 7.71.

The Mets would give their top prospect another shot to prove himself in 2026 with him three games out of the bullpen, where he showed promise, holding a 3.60 ERA.

Instead of building off his potential, New York sent him back down, hoping he can fix his walk problem. In 10 innings pitched, the 23-year-old held seven strikeouts and seven walks, numbers that are very worrisome in such a short sample size.

Down in Triple-A, Tong has been great over his last three starts, allowing three earned runs with 18 strikeouts and nine walks. On the season, the righty holds a 5.24 ERA through 18 starts, striking out 100 batters with 48 walks.

His last start was one of his best this season, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing just two hits, striking out seven batters while walking just two. For a Mets team currently playing for nothing, why not give the top prospect a chance to prove himself at the major-league level?

Jonah Tong turns in another solid @SyracuseMets outing:

5 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 2 BB | 7 K

The @Mets' top prospect logs 14 swings-and-misses and tops out at 97.9 mph -- tied for his fastest pitch at Triple-A in 2026. pic.twitter.com/6rUsjYCC90
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 31, 2026

The Mets will be in the department of acquiring starting pitching next season, especially with Peralta failing to provide top-end production. Tarik Skubal is the best name in free agency, but will David Stearns want to dish out a multi-year mega contract for a 30-year-old pitcher?

Right now is the perfect time to see what you have in your prospects at the major league level and to answer questions raised in the offseason. Zac Thornton already proved he has what it takes to pitch in a starting rotation, holding a 2.43 ERA through five starts with a 0.91 WHIP.

For Stearns, giving Tong the opportunity again to start games will either solve the Mets' biggest hole heading into 2027 or show they’ll need to offload some prospect depth to find a reliable option.

Add us as a preferred source on Google