Mets’ Jonah Tong Situation Already Getting Worse After Demotion

This is starting to snowball for the Mets

New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong (21) walks to the dugout after being taken out of the game against the Cincinnati Reds during the fifth inning at Citi Field. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

After dominating minor league baseball for the duration of the 2025 season, New York Mets starting pitcher Jonah Tong has had a rough start to his big league career. After having an uneven run in September of last year, Tong did not break camp with the 2026 team and was ultimately demoted back to Triple-A Syracuse after just three outings between May and June. The top prospect posted a 3.60 ERA over 10 innings of work, but struggled to keep runners off base and had considerable command issues. 

He had exclusively been used as a bulk reliever following an opener, but there was not much reason to believe that a true starting role would have made him any more effective at the Major League level. Possibly even more concerning, the Mets’ 2022 seventh-round selection struck out just seven over ten innings of work, an alarming rate considering his strikeout prowess last year.

As guys like Christian Scott and Nolan McLean solidify their long-term standing with the Mets, Tong has a bucket list to get to work on in Syracuse.  His first outing back in the minors did not go well, and the alarms are only getting louder around his future with the organization. 

As other young arms in Queens are turning in strong outings after strong outings, Tong has struggled.

Jonah Tong’s Struggles in Triple-A Have Become Impossible to Ignore

In his return outing with the Syracuse Mets on Tuesday night, he was roughed up for four earned runs over four innings of work. Tong’s Triple-A ERA now sits at an even 6.00 over 42 innings, and he has already allowed ten more earned runs than he did all of last year. Possibly even more concerning, Tong is just 12 walks off of his full-season mark from 2025 of 47. 

His strikeout numbers have been considerably better in the minor leagues, but it hasn’t translated to Queens yet, and struggling to put hitters away has been a common theme for him through his three outings in the big leagues. Looking at the bigger picture, Tong’s standing with the franchise is in a precarious state, and it seems to be coming more and more into question with each poor outing.

 It felt as though he was a consensus top-50 prospect in the game as recently as last September, but Tong’s stock is dropping quickly, and the glaring issues aren’t easy to look past. Considering how central to his game the strikeout pitch is, his inability to put hitters away has become a major reason for concern. It hasn’t been as much of an issue in Syracuse, but the ball has jumped off the bat against him despite a better strikeout rate. 

The Mets are still far enough out of the 2026 playoff field that trading the likes of Freddy Peralta shouldn’t be out of the picture, which would bode well for Tong to get more chances in the bigs. If he continues on this brutal stretch in the minors, he could soon be passed by the likes of Zach Thornton and Jack Wenninger, both of whom have impressed this year. 

Tong once figured to be the ace of the Mets’ future, but his current standing is the most uneasy it has ever been with the team. This is now the second time the Mets have decided to send him to Syracuse this year, which is far from ideal.