Minor League Mondays: Jonah Tong Makes History With Binghamton

hoThe New York Mets' history of developing starting pitching is well known but the franchise has hit a lull in recent years. Thanks to a slew of trades involving pitching prospects and development misses after the team's "billion dollar rotation" that came together in 2015, the Mets haven't had a star pitcher emerge over the past few years. That could change as the Mets have a wave of very intriguing pitching prospects on the way, including right-hander Jonah Tong, the focus of this week's edition of Minor League Mondays.

Jonah Tong nearly threw a perfect game for AA Binghamton over the weekend.

Tong, 22, was the Mets' seventh-round pick in 2022 out of Georgia Premiere High School but had a major breakthrough last year. The Mets' new pitching development plan, including a pitching lab, had a big impact for Tong, who was lights out for Low-A St. Lucie and pitched well enough in Brooklyn to earn a late-season cameo with AA Binghamton.

Tong was assigned back to Binghamton to start the 2025 season and has shown off his electric stuff, holding opposing hitters to a .162 batting average and striking out an absurd 51 batters in 28 innings pitched, punching out 44.3 percent of hitters who have faced him this season. The highlight of Tong's year came over the weekend when he threw 6.2 perfect innings against Reading, striking out 13 batters in the process before being pulled after throwing 99 pitches, allowing reliever TJ Shook to complete the first perfect game in Rumble Ponies' history.

That kind of electric stuff has made Tong, who is currently rated as the Mets' sixth-best prospect according to MLB.com, an exciting prospect to watch. While Tong's fastball doesn't have elite velocity, usually sitting between 91-94 miles per hour, its strong vertical break makes the pitch difficult to hit. Tong also has a nasty curveball with a ton of vertical movement, while a cut slider and changeup round out his four-pitch arsenal.

The 6-foot-1 Tong has a style that is reminiscent of former San Francisco Giants' ace Tim Lincecum, another shorter pitcher with elite stuff. The big issue for Tong at the moment is walks, as he saw his walk rate increase as he moved up the minor league ladder this season. Tong has issued 14 free passes so far this season, which is high for only 28 innings pitched, but if he can improve his control there is a chance for him to continue flying through the Mets' minor league system. There are several notable pitching prospects ahead of Tong on the Mets' organizational depth chart, with Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean working for AAA Syracuse alongside Blade Tidwell, who made his major league debut earlier this month. While there is a chance Tidwell ends up as a reliever in the long term, Tong will have to jockey with the aforementioned duo (and eventually Christian Scott, who will miss this season after recovering from Tommy John surgery) for a spot in the Mets' rotation in the near future. Given the success the big league pitching staff has had already, the Mets don't need to rush Tong along. Expect to see Tong spend most of this year with AA Binghamton, eventually getting pushed along to AAA Syracuse if he can demonstrate improved control over the coming months. Tong looks like a candidate to make his big league debut at some point during the 2026 season and could be a long-term fixture in the Mets' rotation, but his elite strikeout numbers could make him a bullpen candidate this summer if the Mets opt to pursue that route.