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Mets' Jonah Tong trying to work on setting the tone: 'My job is to limit damage'
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- Mets' Jonah Tong trying to work on setting the tone: 'My job is to limit damage'
In the final home game of the season for the Mets , rookie starter Jonah Tong got the ball against the Philadelphia Phillies for his second-to-last start of the year and things didn't start out so well for the right-hander.
Tong walked the leadoff hitter, Kyle Schwarber , after getting ahead in the count 1-2 and allowed a single to Bryce Harper before Luis Arraez brought home the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly. Alec Bohm followed with an RBI single which quickly put New York in a 2-0 hole.
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The inning ended with a scary moment after Bryson Stott collided with Tong at first base on a ground ball hit to first baseman Mark Vientos . Tong beat Stott to the bag and got the out, but Stott stepped on Tong's ankle before sending him to the ground.
"I got to work on standing my ground there I guess," the rookie said, before adding, "I didn't realize he stepped on me until someone said it afterwards. Maybe I'll feel it tomorrow, but I feel great right now."
To Tong's credit, he popped right back up and after hopping around a bit he went right back to the dugout before coming back out for the second where he retired the side in order with two strikeouts. Unfortunately things went south again in the third.
Once again, Tong walked Schwarber to lead things off after a nine-pitch at-bat where he got ahead of the slugger 1-2. The Phillies made the rookie pay after Trea Turner doubled Schwarber home to extend their lead to 3-0. A fourth run came in to score on Arraez's single.
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"I think I just need to do a better job of, especially after that first inning, set the tone," Tong said. "Feel like I competed well through it, but again my job is to limit damage and go out there and keep competing."
Tong ended up fighting his way through 4.2 innings without allowing another run, although he walked four and had trouble putting hitters away while throwing 95 pitches (58 strikes) in what was a wet and rainy day at the ballpark.
Interim manager Andy Greenwas pleased that Tong showed some fight after a tough start, but he wants to see more out of his young right-hander and doesn't want to make excuses for him and even challenged him as he's done throughout the season for many of the youngsters on the team.
"I expect Jonah to beat those guys," Green said. "As for the weather, it's obviously harder to pitch when the mound is wet, it's wet for both teams. There is some level of truth to if you're a pitcher that gets a lot of extension, and especially if you're shorter, the way Jonah does you get further down the slope, you'll slip a little bit more – makes it a little bit harder, but that's handing him an excuse that he doesn't need."
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The skipper continued: "Felt he competed. Wasn't his best day here but he wasn't far from getting through five right there."
In three starts since his September call-up, Tong is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA and has struck out 18 in 15.2 innings. Before Sunday, the 23-year-old had also kept his walks down with just two free passes in 11 innings.
While he admitted that "walks suck", Tong said he's not going to dwell on them and is just looking forward to getting back on the mound and competing once again.
"I think I've learned a lot about myself, I've said that a lot, but just continuing to find ways to get deep into games has been a big focus of mine," Tong said. "So I know after a rocky start to go as deep as I possibly could was something I look back on and I'm happy with."
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A year removed from his first major league call-up which was perhaps premature but came at a time where the Mets were desperate for some pitching and trying to keep their season from collapsing, Tong does look and sound more confident in himself and his numbers would agree.
Although he showed promise at times, in five starts last year Tong pitched to a 7.71 ERA. This year, which also includes three relief outings in May and June, the right-hander has a 4.21 ERA.
So, has Tong made a big enough jump to be considered for next year's starting rotation?
"He definitely has a chance," Green said. "I think we've kinda painted the landscape for a lot of the guys that like we're likely to go sign some people. We'll have a lot of guys who have established themselves at that point in time so the chance is heightened if he pitches really well, if his stuff gets better, if strikes are there and so I think all those things are possible for Jonah. I'm excited to see him get on the mound one last time this season."
