Mets prospect Tong unhittable again in ascendant season

New York’s hottest pitching prospect is Jonah Tong. Each time the 21-year-old right-hander takes the mound lately, he seems to set the world on fire.

Tong (NYM No. 4/MLB No. 99) added another dominant outing Wednesday, firing five no-hit innings in Double-A Binghamton’s 4-3 win over Somerset at Mirabito Stadium. Tong racked up 11 strikeouts over the course of those five frames and finished by retiring 11 straight, including his last four batters via punchout, capping his second unhittable outing in less than a month.

It was the latest in a season of ascendant performances for Tong, the Mets’ seventh-round pick from the 2022 Draft out of the Toronto prep ranks. He’s followed up a breakout season last summer with a peerless first half at Binghamton, pitching to a 2.02 ERA with 83 strikeouts (one off the Minor League lead) across 49 innings. Tong leads all Double-A hurlers in strikeouts and batting average against (.137), and his eye-popping 15.2 SO/9 not only leads the Minors, it also dwarfs the Major League leader (MacKenzie Gore, 13.3 SO/9).

That level of dominance is turning Tong starts into appointment viewing. On May 11, he came one out away from completing Binghamton’s first perfect game in more than seven years. He’s allowed two hits or fewer in six of his 10 starts, and on Wednesday he retired 15 of 19 batters he faced without surrendering any at all. His last five starts have been especially dominant, with Tong sporting a 0.98 ERA and 45 strikeouts in those 27 ⅔ innings.