Jonah Tong has spent 2025 racking up punch out after punch out and establishing himself as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Now, the Markham, Ont., native will continue his standout campaign in the middle of a playoff race.
The New York Mets announced Tuesday that Tong is set to be promoted after two scoreless starts in triple-A and will take the ball for his MLB debut when the club hosts the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Operating with a trademark over-the-top delivery, no MiLB pitcher has collected strikeouts quite like Tong this season. The six-foot-one right-hander has set down a minor-league best 179 hitters this summer, carrying a 40.5 per cent strikeout rate in 113.2 innings of work.
It has been a quick rise to the majors for Tong, who the Mets drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft. But with New York’s rotation struggling in recent weeks — the group owns a 4.86 ERA since the all-star break — and in need of an extra arm, the 22-year-old Canuck will get the chance to help the Mets chase a post-season spot despite his short stint in triple-A.
“I think it’s all about him dominating in the minor leagues,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters about Tong’s recall earlier Tuesday. “You could make a case, ‘All right, he’s double-A, you want to give him a better look at the triple-A level,’ but you know, couple of outings and it’s hard to keep him there.”
So, as Tong gets set to take the field in Queens for the first time, here’s everything you need to know about his journey to the majors.
Age: 22
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Height: Six-foot-one | Weight: 180 lbs
2025 Stats: 10 Wins | 113.2 IP | ERA: 1.43 | 1.66 FIP | 179 SO | 47 BB | .148 BAA | 0.92 WHIP
Big-league stuff
After a 2024 breakout that saw Tong climb three levels, closing the year at double-A Binghamton, he was sent back to the Rumble Ponies out of spring training and pitched his way to the doorstep of the majors.
Over the course of his outstanding summer, Tong threw all but one out of the first perfect game in Binghamton franchise history, earned a spot on the National League roster at the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta and allowed just two home runs while posting a 1.43 ERA across his two stops.
Tong, ranked as the No. 44 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, was promoted to triple-A on Aug. 11 and proceeded to strike out 17 and walk three hitters over two starts, working into the sixth inning both times out.
A product of the Toronto Mets, who spent time at the Georgia Premier Academy and in the MLB Draft League before being selected by New York, Tong primarily uses a riding fastball and redesigned Vulcan changeup to attack hitters while mixing in a curveball and slider.
Tong’s fastball averaged 95.8 m.p.h. with 18.7 inches of induced vertical break during his triple-A outings, both of which make the pitch a certified bat misser. According to MLB.com‘s Sam Dykstra, the offering generated a 36.5 per cent whiff rate between both levels in 2025.
Alongside adding a couple of ticks to his fastball, finding his changeup has helped Tong find a new level this season. The righty entered the year with his dropping curve as his most oft-thrown secondary, but Tong has leaned on the improved changeup as the year has worn on, holding hitters of both handedness to sub-.200 averages with the offering.
Tim Lincecum comparisons
While Tong’s delivery is indeed unconventional, it has drawn comparisons to that of two-time Cy Young winner and four-time all-star Tim Lincecum — an influence that the Canadian doesn’t shy away from.
“My dad and I, growing up, used to love watching videos on YouTube…,” Tong said while appearing on Blair & Barker earlier this summer. “We kind of compiled different guys that we liked, (Greg) Maddux, Nolan Ryan, Jacob deGrom, but Tim Lincecum was the one that really hit me, just because it was kind of similar to how I threw naturally.
“And then when I was younger, my dad didn’t really like when I threw sidearm, so I thought, ‘screw it, why don’t I throw overhead to see if he’ll notice?’”
Like Lincecum, Tong features an extreme head whack and an arm angle which will rank among the highest in MLB. It’s a combo that clearly makes for a tough at-bat and deceives hitters.
While Lincecum ultimately faded sharply after taking the sport by storm in the late 2000s, he became just the eighth pitcher ever to win back-to-back Cy Youngs and tossed two no-hitters as the face of baseball in San Francisco.
Where Tong fits in New York
As the Mets enter play Tuesday, they sit six games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the NL East and 2.5 games up on the Cincinnati Reds for the final National League wild-card spot.
Even sitting in the playoff picture, New York has struggled to a 15-19 record in the second half, losing starting pitching options Frankie Montas, Griffin Canning and Christian Scott for the season. The team has recently returned Sean Manaea from the injured list and recalled Tong’s fellow prospect, Nolan McLean, from the minors to help fill the void.
But with the raised stakes that arrive each September, the Mets are looking to run out their top 26 players each night in an effort to secure a spot in October, which is a group they’re giving Tong the opportunity to break into.
“As you roll into the last month of the season, you want to have the best roster you possibly can,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Tuesday. “We think Jonah has the chance to be among that and has earned the opportunity. So, we’re going to give him the start and see how it goes.”
