This was about six weeks ago, when Jonah Tong was merely an unhittable pitcher with Double-A Binghamton who would not allow himself to think about a promotion even to Triple-A Syracuse.
Teammate and fellow top prospect Jett Williams considered what life is like patrolling the infield or outfield behind Tong and smiled.
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Try it free“Not a lot of defense,” Williams said. “It’s nice being able to just chill.”
The varsity Mets already had met the wide-eyed, smiling and bubbly personality. On Thursday, they met the unforgiving and electric arm that their minor leaguers know well.
It took four starts, but Tong has arrived and just in time for a team that is attempting to crack into the postseason and holding auditions for starting pitchers along the way.
He cruised through a strong Padres order over five strong innings in which he struck out eight in a 6-1, momentum-grabbing victory in front of 38,127 sun-drenched fans at Citi Field.
The Mets (79-74) seized their first series since taking two of three in Detroit at the start of the month and moved two games ahead of the idle Diamondbacks.
After a miserable and season-threatening eight-game nosedive, the Mets have straightened out and performed against another October threat.
They did so because Pete Alonso, who might be playing in his final homestand with the team, has homered in four games straight, his latest a first-inning blast.
They did so because of a third-inning breakthrough, in which the club sent eight batters to the plate and could exhale when Brandon Nimmo turned on a 1-2 changeup from ex-Yankee Wandy Peralta and clobbered it to right for a three-run homer.
They did so because Tyler Rogers, Brooks Raley, Gregory Soto and Edwin Diaz combined for four scoreless, two-hit innings.
They did so because they met the other Tong.
The infectious smile and energy generally have been present, though they were not after his last start. Tong did not survive the first inning against the Rangers, after which he was emotional and after which there were doubts whether he even would receive another chance.
Those doubts are gone, and Tong is again in the conversation for October innings after allowing just one unearned run and becoming the first Mets pitcher 22 or younger to strike out at least eight hitters in a game since Noah Syndergaard in 2015.
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Relying less upon a changeup that has not induced much chase and more on a heater that he throws all over the strike zone, the kid from Canada walked none and allowed just four hits in five innings and 82 pitches.
He got stronger as the game got longer and retired the last eight batters he faced. In his final inning, he used four-seamers that were straight down the middle to strike out Ryan O’Hearn and Jake Cronenworth swinging, the deception and seeming rise on the pitch difficult to hit even when improperly placed.
The Padres swung 27 times at his fastball and missed nine.
His only blemish was a strange one, San Diego scoring in the third on a single, error, wild pitch and a sacrifice fly that traveled only 233 feet.
In that inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. singled hard through the middle and immediately took second when Tong tried to pick him off and bounced the throw.
Tong then bounced another, this one to catcher Luis Torrens, to advance Tatis another base.
Luis Arraez then lofted a fly ball to fairly shallow left, where Nimmo was camped.
A good throw would have cut down Tatis, but Nimmo fired a three-hopper to the plate, unable to get any air under the throw.
But Nimmo — just like Tong and just the Mets — would bounce back.