The New York Mets are headed to South Beach to play the Miami Marlins after salvaging a series split against the Washington Nationals. The club has yet to announce its starters for that series.
One pitcher that could be in consideration for the series opener is their top pitching prospect, Jonah Tong. Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that the Mets would consider starting Tong against the Marlins on May 22 if they played the series finale against the Nationals.
Not only did they play the game, but New York ultimately prevailed 2-1 on a pair of Bo Bichette RBI knocks. That means the right-hander will fly down to Miami and meet the team there.
The right-hander was scratched from his start with Triple-A Syracuse on May 20. That led to speculation that he’d been called up to join the Mets’ rotation on this road trip. With the conditions laid out by Sammon satisfied, the right-hander appears set to make his first start for New York in 2026.
Jonah Tong to Make 2026 Mets Debut
Tong, 22, enters the 2026 season as the top pitching prospect in the Mets system. At the time of this call-up, he ranks just behind outfielder A.J. Ewing in the organization’s Top 30 list on MLB Pipeline.
The right-hander features a four-pitch mix, headlined by a high-carry four-seamer and a vulcan changeup as his primary offspeed weapon. Despite buzzsawing through the upper minors with that two-pitch combo, he yielded a 7.71 ERA in his first five MLB starts.
The Mets sent down Tong to further develop his arsenal, and rely less on the four-seamer and changeup. One of the newer pitches he’s been working on in 2026 is a cutter, along with continued refinement of the curveball. Statcast lists a slider on search, but those are likely curveballs and cutters that were misread.
Looking at his Triple-A numbers, the right-hander has a 5.68 ERA in 38 innings. The right-hander has struck out 32.7% of hitters on the year while walking 14.3%. However, it’s worth noting that the organization might be more focused on pitch development, rather than the on-field outcomes that come from it.
SNY’s Danny Abriano published an analysis of Tong’s season in Triple-A. While the surface stats don’t look impressive at first glance, Abriano notes the right-hander has performed well in the expected metrics. Tong has yielded a .224 xBA and .407 xSLG, but also a .338 xwOBA due to the high walk rate.
With the Mets dealing with injuries, plus this long stretch of games, they’ll turn to their pitching prospect for a spot start. With Zach Thornton and Tong starting back-to-back games, it gives the rest of their rotation a breather. Then they can choose which prospect to send back down to Syracuse when going with a regular rotation.
Mets Bullpen Situation Entering Marlins Series
With Tong set to start against the Marlins, the Mets will have to make a roster move to get him on the active roster. That decision will depend on how many relievers they feel comfortable rostering.
The Mets’ bullpen should be in pretty good shape entering the Marlins series. They might be leery to use right-handers Craig Kimbrel and Austin Warren, who threw more than 50 pitches in the Nationals series. Warren is a candidate to be optioned to the minors, although they may not want to send down a pitcher who has a 1.72 ERA and 3.24 FIP on the season for 15 days.
Long man Sean Manaea will be on four days’ rest entering the Marlins series. That should give the Mets some multi-inning coverage in case of a short start. Manaea threw 57 pitches over four innings against the Yankees in his last appearance on May 17.
How the Mets plan to deploy Tong is still up for discussion according to Sammon. One option would be to use an opener ahead of the right-hander. That could mean Huascar Brazoban or Tobias Myers, who’ve opened ahead of David Peterson, could go. Left-hander Brooks Raley is another option, although they might want to save him for late-inning matchups.
How Tong performs in his spot start could determine if he’ll remain in the rotation. The club is hoping to survive on their internal options while Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga remain out.
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