Jonah Tong Returns In A Relief Role As Mets Continue To Add To Youth Movement

The New York Mets lost the opening game of their three-game set in Miami last night, 2-1, but they got some unexpected help from a new arm in the bullpen. Jonah Tong was called up from Syracuse, and the Mets immediately threw him back into the fire, with Tong throwing three innings of hitless relief. The “back” part of this is about Tong’s splashy cameo late last season, when he flashed with a couple of great starts while getting hit around in others.

That pattern has continued in the minors this season, so the Mets are obviously trying a different plan, and last light it worked to perfection. “Very encouraging,’’ manager Carlos Mendoza said of Tong in a piece written by George Richards of MLB. com.

“The velo, the fastball, the way he was playing -- his changeup was good. He attacked with the curve, gave us a chance. But, offensively, we just didn’t get anything other than a couple of at-bats from Soto.

” The plan makes a lot of sense, even if there are bad outings. Tong led the minor leagues in strikeouts last year and he’s been an early leader at a couple of junctures so far, so his stuff plays well out of the pen. He said that pitching in relief is something he’s done before, and he’s willing to do it again.