Are rookie pitchers singlehandedly saving the New York Mets’ season?
After three great starts from 24-year-old top prospect Nolan McLean, the Mets doubled down and called up 22-year-old top prospect Jonah Tong. On Friday night, the great results continued.
Tong, the Mets’ No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, pitched five brilliant innings against the Miami Marlins. He struck out six, allowed only one earned run, and picked up his first major league win in a 19-9 Mets romp.
The Mets’ two newest starters are now 4-0, and manager Carlos Mendoza is doing nothing to stop their momentum.
After the game, Mendoza announced that Tong will remain in the rotation for now, and that the Mets will go with a “fluid” six-man group, per Tim Britton of The Athletic.
“He’s walking from the bullpen after his warmup pitches, and you see the reaction,” Mendoza said of Tong, via Britton. “We feel it.”
The Mets have now won six of their last eight, finding some momentum after a rough first half of August. And as the rotation was starting to wear down, the rookies are injecting some youthful life into the mix.
Meanwhile, the Mets’ 19 runs were the second-most support ever given to a pitcher in his major league debut, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
The young Canadian righty looks every bit the part of a future ace. But the more he can be a present ace the rest of the way, the more confidence Mendoza will have trotting him back out in a playoff race.
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