Mets Hope To Ride Young Arms To First Division Title Since 2015

Rookie right-hander Nolan McLean tips his cap to applauding CitiField fans during his scoreless outing against the Phillies in New York Wednesday. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

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Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle twice in a month, the New York Mets will give Jonah Tong his first major-league start Friday night.

Widely considered the best pitcher in minor-league baseball this year, Tong could join Nolan McLean in a 1-2 rookie punch that would inject fuel into a foundering rotation.

Entering play Thursday, the Mets were second in the National League East, four games behind the front-running Philadelphia Phillies but surging after sweeping three straight from the Phils at CitiField in Flushing. The teams meet four times in Philadelphia next month.

A 22-year-old native of Canada, Tong is half-Chinese. But he’s all Greek to batters who faced him in the minors this year.

Strikeout Whiz

He not only fanned more hitters than anyone else in the minors this year but combined with Binghamton teammate TJ Shook on a perfect game May 10.

McLean, meanwhile, is the first pitcher ever to win his first three starts with the Mets. His latest was a 6-0 victory over the Phillies Wednesday in which he worked eight scoreless innings. He’s 3-0 with an earned run average of 0.89 while averaging just over a strikeout per inning.

As Joel Sherman wrote in The New York Post, “He hardly even seems a rookie. Not when he is working with Greg Maddux’ efficiency and John Smoltz’s electricity against a first-place team before 40,000-plus at Citi Field in late August amid a playoff chase.”

Such work is already triggering talk that he may be the most exciting rookie pitcher to don a Mets uniform since Tom Seaver – an eventual Hall of Famer – in 1967. He throws six different pitches, bringing both control and composure to the mound.

Six Starters

Called up to replace injured veteran Frankie Montas, McLean has secured a rotation spot behind David Peterson, Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, and Sean Manaea, with Tylor Megill hoping to return soon after rehabbing an elbow injury. The result could be a six-man rotation that gives each starter extra rest as the team enters the final month and points toward the playoffs.

Adding Tong to that group and knowing Brandon Sproat is knocking on the major-league door after starting spring training as the team’s top prospect makes the Mets think they can overtake the Phillies, who are seeking consecutive National League East division titles.

Speaking of the rookies on his roster, manager Carlos Mendoza said, “There’s a competition going on right now, and that’s why we’re seeing the opportunities for guys like McLean and Jonah.”

Series Clinched

The Mets seized a major opportunity this week by clinching the season’s series – and a potential post-season tie-breaker – with their three-game sweep over Philadelphia. Should they finish the 162-game schedule with identical records, the title will be awarded to New York.

But they need help from their arch-rival, the Atlanta Braves, who begin a four-game road set at Citizens Bank Park this weekend.

Adding rookies rather than veterans is a shrewd move by Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.

The Mets rank second, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers, with their $340 million payroll, according to Roster Resource, but are paying their rookie pitchers only a pro-rated portion of the $760,000 minimum salary.

Seeking their first division crown since 2015, when they went to the World Series for the fifth time in franchise history, the Mets hope their young pitchers can do for the 2025 team what the Seaver-led young starters did for the Miracle Mets of 1969. The Mets also won a world championship in 1986.

Whether Tong and McLean remain in the rotation for the playoffs, Mendoza was coy. “They have to earn it,” he said, “but they will be in the conversation.”