Ernest Dove - Top 5 New York Mets Prospect Getting Hot

 

Ernest Dove fills us in on some good news on top prospects.  Catch the news right here

For more info on your favorite prospects, visit the Dove Report on YouTube.

Reese Kaplan -- Mets in the Cellar But Number One in Something

Suppose you are in the middle of a scathing and vicious fight for the division pennant and find yourself down at least one significant starting pitcher.  With June now here and the July final four weeks of evaluation to soon take place this consideration will have you scoring a wide variety of metrics as you ascertain whose arm will give you the push towards the top of the divisional heap.  For purposes of this exercise, of course, we’re talking about teams with strong winning records, not the Mets.

As opposing GMs weigh who will or won’t help them propel towards October baseball, a great many factors go into this analysis.  Obvious markers include won/loss record which is perhaps a pointless metric given that second division teams do not win a lot of games no matter how good the targeted pitcher might be.

Another key statistic is ERA.  Think back to the days in which Jacob deGrom used to play for the Mets and when healthy you knew he was going to be more than stingy at allowing opposing runners to cross the plate.  Whether or not a target’s team is winning or losing, ERA is a rock solid clue as to how successful a pitcher really is.

More recently WHIP has become a sign of how good a pitcher is at keeping runners off base.  The combination of (Walks + Hits)/Innings Pitched lets you see how effective a pitcher is at keeping the bases clear. 

Then there are the financial implications.  A pitcher traded in the middle of a long term contract has a financial hit on team payroll not just for the remainder of 2026 but also for however many years remain on his deal.  The flip side are pending free agents who are in effect a much more appealing transaction as the payroll hit ends in 2026. 

We could go on and on about looking at batting average against, walks, hits, strikeouts and various other metrics but for our oversimplified consideration here we’re looking at pitchers who won’t cost a fortune in terms of money, who keep runners off base regularly and who keep them from crossing the plate.  One other factor is trend analysis to see how the hurler has performed recently over the past several games rather than unfairly weighing earlier season struggles against one or more metrics compensate how highly you evaluate this pitcher.

As the best of the 29 other GMs make this evaluation, suppose they found a pending free agent earning just $8 million dollars and owning a 3.38 ERA.  Freddy Peralta has to be at or damned close to the number one position on the score sheets of opposing team talent evaluators.  He has number one starter talent and is paid like a back of the rotation arm with no financial hit beyond the final two months of the 2026 season.  That’s a combination of factors that is indeed hard to beat. 

Now Mets fans will be irate if the club goes ahead and deals away one of the few bright lights of this horrific season, but you have to be realistic.  If you can add a top notch prospect or two for a two month rental of a guy who is not going to propel you from the basement to the penthouse, then you certainly have to hear what the incoming offers include.  Bear in mind that by doing nothing you have no guarantee that Peralta will return to the Mets nor at what cost.  Consequently many would say getting something is certainly preferable to getting nothing. 

MACK - Friday Observations - Weekly Update on the Future

 

I started this series tracking 19 minor league players that I felt could someday make a difference as a major league Met... well, I'm removing some of them already because they currently just ain't hacking it. I will put them back if they start turning it around.

They are:

    AA-Binghamton C/1B/LF Chris Suero

    AAA-Syracuse RP/CL Dylan Ross

SP Jack Wenninger/AAA-Syracuse –

On 5-27:               9-ST, 3-2, 2.20, 1.22, 41-IP, 44-K, 24-BB

5-30: another sub-par outing... second in a row: 4-IP, 9-H, 4-ER, BB, 2-K

As of end 6-3 - 10-G, 9-ST, 3-3, 2.80, 1.33, 45-IP, 46-K, 25-BB

IMO - Wenninger is just sorta hanging around, not looking bad, but not dominating either. His last two outings are troubling and it's understandable why the Mets haven't promoted him yet this year.

               

SP Jonah Tong/AAA-Syracuse & MLB-Mets  –

On 5-27:             MLB - 0.2-WAR, 0-0, 0.00

It seems like Tong has found a permanent position with the Mets so I am removing him from this minor league prospect report. You go, Jonah.

And then came Tuesday: 3.1-IP, 5-H, 4-ER, 2-BB, 4-K, HR. His MLB ERA soared.

So... on Wednesday the Mets optioned him back to Syracuse.

As of end 6-3 - 

MLB: 3-APPS, 1-1, 3.60, 1,50, 10-IP, 7-K, 7-BB, 

AAA:  9-ST, 1-3, 5.68, 1.37, 38-IP, 55-K, 24-BB

IMO - the Mets need to leave Tong in Syracuse until he can master his control. Like his buddy McLean, there are just too many pitches out of the zone as well as too many foul balls. His repertoire just ain't blowing people away these days.

 

SP Zach Thornton/AAA-Syracuse & MLB-Mets –

On 5-27:     MLB: -0.1-WAR, 0-1, 8.31

                  AAA/AA:   7-ST, 1-3, 3.16, 1.19, 37-IP, 40-K, 12-BB

Tuesday - 4-IP, 4-H, 2-ER, 4-BB, 4-K

As of end 6-3: AAA: 4-ST, 1-2, 4.87, 1.3720-1-IP, 19-K, 9-BB

IMO - another young starter that needs to be left alone in Syracuse to master his routine.

NEW ADDITION - C Kevin Parada/AAA-Syracuse

Parada was a #1 (11th overall 2022) pick that excited all of us; however, it just hasn't worked. He was hitting .184 at Binghamton when he was surprisingly promoted to Syracuse.  Out of the blue, the bat awakes and Tuesday, the day I added him here, he was hitting .385 for Syracuse.

6-2:  0-2

6-3:  1-3, 3-RBI, double

As of end 6-3:  AAA:  31-AB, 0-HR, 9-RBI, .355/.400/.484/.884

IMO - I gave up on this guy a long time ago and I have no explanation as to why he was promoted to this level, so I'm just going to sit back and observe here. One thing... he seems to have adjusted his swing because the home run swing seems to now be lacking.

RP Ryan Lambert/AAA-Syracuse –

On 5-27:  16-APPS, 1-0, 5.79, 1.57, 14-IP, 23-K, 13-BB 

5-28:  2-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 0-BB, 2-K, 5.06

 6-2:  0.0-IP, 3-H, 2-ER, BB, 6.19

IMO - I don't see any reason to keep tracking him after this horrendous start of a season.

RP Jonathan Pintaro/AAA-Syracuse & MLB-Mets -

On 5-27:  MLB - 0.1-WAR, 0-0, 0.00

               AAA - 2-0, 2.81, 1.13, 15-APPS, 25.2-IP, 32-K, 12-BB  

5-29: rough outing - 1-1P, H, HR, 2-ER, BB, K      

5-31:  1-2-IP, H, ER, O-BB, 4-K

6-3:  1-IP, 0-R, 0-H, 0-BB, 0-K

As of end 6-3:   AAA - 18-APPS, 2-0, 3.38, 1.09, 29.1-IP, 37-K, 13-BB  

IMO - Pintaro has a ton of talent and closer material as well. All he needs to do is eliminate the occasional clunker he throws and he will someday find himself permanently in Queens.      

         

RP Anderson Severino/AAA-Syracuse –

On 5-27:   2-0, 1.37, 1.06, 17-APPS, 19.2-IP, 20-K, 11-BB

5-28:  1-IP, H, 0-R, 0-BB, 0-K, 1.31

5-30: for some stupid ass reason, the Mets designated Severino for assignment and replaced by someone with a 6.00+ ERA.

I'm going keep him in this report and, hopefully,  wait out his return after he clears waivers

BTW... who was the numbskull that decided to designate the chain's leader in producing saves?

                

RP Ben Simon/AAA-Syracuse –

On 5-27:  AAA - 1-0, 2.70, 1.80, 3-APPS, 3.1-IP, K, 4-BB

5-29:  1-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 0-BB  

6-2:  1.1-IP, 2-H, ER; BB

As of end 6-3:  AAA  5-apps, 3.18, 1.59, 5.2-IP, 1-K, 5-BB

IMO - five walks over 5.2 innings pitches is not a great way to start a new assignment. Let's give Ben some time to adjust to the International League.

NEW ADDITION - 2B Ji Hwan Bae/AAA-Syracuse

Bae makes this list after posting  a stat line of .293/.387.400/.787 in 150 at-bats for Syracuse.

5-28:  0-5

5-29:  2-4, BB

5-30:  2-4, BB

5-31:  0-5

6-2:  0-2

6-3:  game 1 - 0-2      game 2 - 1-4, BB

As of end 6-3:   176-AB, 2-HR, 18-RBI, .278/.380/.375/.755

IMO - good numbers from a utility player that might come in handy this season.

OF Nick Morabito/AAA-Syracuse

5/26 - Mets:  -0.3-WAR, 11-AB, 0-H, .000

          Syr:    146-AB, 4-HR, 17-RBI, .253/.364/.390/.755

5-28:  2-5

5-29:  1-6          

5-30:  1-5  

5-31:  2-4, HR (5), 3-RBI  

6-2:  1-4

6-3:   game 1 - 1-4, triple    game 2 - 1-3, BB

As of end 6-3:   AAA - 180-AB, 5-HR, 22-RBI, .256/.363/.400/.763

IMO - a good sign this week was he hit safely in every game this week.

SP Jonathan Santucci/AA-Binghamton –

On 5-27:      9-ST, 0-5, 4.83, 1.36, 41-IP, 53-K, 21-BB

5-31:  Very strong outing - 5-IP, 3-H, 0-R, BB, 5-K

As of end 6-3:   10-ST, 0-5, 4.30, 1.30, 46-IP, 58-K, 22-BB

IMO - Santucci is showing signs of getting his shite together. Let's keep a close look here.

               

RP Saul Garcia/AA-Binghamton –

On 5-27:   18-APPS, 0-1, 4.66, 1.08, 19.1-IP, 30-K, 4-BB

5-29:  1.2-IP, 2-H, 0-R, K    

6-3:  1-IP, 2-H, ER, 2-K, 0-BB

1-IP, 2-H, ER, 2-K

As of the end 6-3:  20-APPS, 0-1, 4.43, 1.21, 22.1-IP, 33-K, 5-BB

IMO - 2026 just hasn't been a dominant year for Saul. Not like 2025. Still, the K/9 is there...

          

3B Jacob Reimer/AA-Binghamton –

On 5-27:    135-AB, 4-HR, 12-RBI, .215/.345/.393/.738

5-28:  2-4. BB, RBI, .223

5-29:  0-4

5-30:  0-4

5-31:  0-3

IMO - I am removing Reimer from this report. He just isn't hacking it at this point.

NEW ADDITION - RP Felipe De La Cruz/AA-Binghamton - 

Cruz joins some of his Bing teammates here after, through last Wednesday created a stat line of 12-APPS, 1.84, 1.15.

5-29: 1.2-IP, 2-H, 0-R, BB, 3-K

As of end 6-3:  14-APPS, 0-0, 1.56, 1.15, 17.1-IP, 23-K, 9-BB

IMO - Cruz is a newbie here which has been brought to my attention my his low ERA and high K/9%. I'm looking forward to following his growth.

               

SP Channing Austin/A+ Brooklyn –

5-27:   AA - no appearances yet

           A+ - 8-ST, 2-1, 1.17, 38.1-IP. 48-K, 22-BB

Also on 5/27, Austin was placed on the IL with an oblique issue.

SP Jose Chirinos/A+ Brooklyn –

On 5-27:    8-G, 6-ST, 2-1, 2.75, 1.11, 36-IP, 39-K, 9-BB

5-28: A-St. Lucie - 6-1P, 3-H, 0-ER, BB, 9-K, 2.36

  On Monday, the Mets promoted Chirinos to A+ Brooklyn 

6-3:  5-IP, 3-H, ER, 3-BB, 4-K

As of end 6-3 - A+ - 1-ST, 0-0, 1.80, 1.20, 5-IP, 4-K, 3-BB

IMO - boy, I hope we have found a good one here...

NEW ADDITION - RP - Bryce Jenkins/A+ Brooklyn - 

Jenkins entered this list after going 0.59-ERA in 12 appearances for a really bad team

I may be the kiss of death here. Jenkins was sailing along on Thursday, going run-less in 2.1 innings. Then, two hits and two walks later he was pulled after giving up 2-ER.

5-31: nice bounce back - 1.1-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 2-BB, 2-K

6-3:   1.2-IP, 2-H, 3-ER, BB, 3-K

As of end 6-3 - 15-APPS, 1-2, 2.61, 0.87, 20.2-IP, 22-K, 8-BB

IMO - Jenkins has had a difficult first week in this report, but his low WHIP still warrants his remaining here... for now.

               

OF JT Benson/A+ Brooklyn –

On 5-27:  Brooklyn -    20-AB, 0-HR, 4-RBI, .150/.227/.300/.527

       St. Lucie -   116-AB, 5-HR, 24-RBI, .276/.361/.578/.938

On 5/28, Benson was back in the lineup and went 1-5 with a double

5-29:  2-3, 2-RBI, BB

5-30:  2-4, 3-RBI

5-31:  1-4, 2B

JT began showing signs this week that he will hit at the A+ level like he did in ST. Lucie.

end of 6-3 - A+ - 39-AB, 9-RBI, .256/.310/.385/.694              

IMO - Benson had a great week at this new level. Hard to beat with a 6-16 start at a new level.

SP Nicholas Carreno/A-St. Lucie –

On 5-27:    9-G, 4-ST, 1-0, 1.69, 1.03, 32-IP, 49-K, 16-BB

5-29:  5-2-IP, 0-R, 2-BB, 7-K

end of 6-3:  10-G, 5-ST, 2-0, 1.43, 0.98, 37.2-IP, 56-K, 18-BB

IMO - this might be the K/9 leader in the chain right now and it shouldn't be long for him to head for the Borough of Kings.

NEW ADDITION  - RP Christian Rodriguez/A-St. Lucie - 

Here's another new one. Through last Wednesday, Rodriguez has a Lucy stat line of 14-APPS, 1.78, 0.91.

As of end 6-3 - 15-APPS, 2-1, 1.91, 1.09, 28.1-IP, 33-K, 11-BB

          

1B Randy Guzman/A-St. Lucie –

On 5-27:    150-AB, 8-HR, 26-RBI, 19-BB, 50-K, .260/.362/.493/.855.

5-28:  0-4, 

5-29:  2-5

5-30:  3-5, 2-RBI, HR (9TH)

5-31:  0-5

6-3:  GM1 - 0-2, BB  

         GM2 - 1-2, RBI, BB

As of end 6-3:  173-AB, 9-HR, 29-RBI, .260/.363/.480/.843

IMO - Guzman is holding steady at .260, which ain't a bad thing, but upped his home run total to nine, which is definitely a good thing.

               

SS Elian Pena/A-St. Lucie –

On 5-27:   156-AB, 2-HR, 19-RBI, 29-BB, 36-K, .282/.405/.385/.790

5-29:  2-4, 2-BB, RBI, HR (3)

5-30:  0-5

5-31:  0-4

6-3:  GM1 - 0-2, BB

         GM2 - 1-2, BB, 2-RBI

As of end 6-3:  177-AB, 35-BB, 3-HR, 22-RBI, .282/.410/.395/.806

IMO - Pena is definitely over his stall, and I look for a big week now that June has arrived.

   

C Yovanny Rodriguez/FCL Mets –

On 5-27:   53-AB, 5-HR, 15-RBI, .264/.339/.566/.905

5-29:   2-2

6-1:  0-2

6-3:  1-2, RBI

End of week:

Hitting .500 isn't going to hurt him going forward. ONCE AGAIN... trust me. This is your 2029 Mets starting catcher.

As of end 6-3:  60-AB, 5-HR, 16-RBI, .267/.353/.567/.920

IMO - Rodriguez is also not falling back. Would love to see a few pops out of him this week.

HELIUM ALERT

Bohan Adderley/CF - FCL Mets

  2024 IFA - $350K bonus

Adderley started a little slow this season but he is heating up as we turn to June. Many in the organization think that Bohan may be the best athlete in the system. Tied for second in FCL steals.

John Bay/OF - A+ Brooklyn

Like Adderley, Bay started slow this season, but began showing signs of life last week, especially hitting home runs. Still, if hitting bombs was the reason you make my list then Ryan Clifford would be on it.

On Tuesday, he hit a 110+ mph single.

Davial Hurtado/LHSP - A+ Brooklyn

Hurtado was touted as a prospect from the day the Mets signed him in 2023 as an International free agent. He's now started two games for the Cyclones and pitched 7.2 SCORELESS innings. I'd say that's some helium alert'

Ryan Dollar/RP - A+ Brooklyn

Through Tuesday, Dollar, in four appearances for the Cyclones, has struck out seven and given up only one hit: Undrafted - 6-3/220 RHRP, Univ of Houston, 4-APPS, 0-0, 0.00/1.50, 4.2-IP, 1-H, 0-R, 7-K, 6-BB.

Tom Brennan - Mets Salvage Seattle Finale; and Minor League Round Up

The Happy Recap!  Hoo, Hoo, Hoo!

Mets win 7-1.  

“The Mets win. The Mets win the d..n thing!”  Thanks, Bob Murphy.

Bo Bichette took my strong criticism yesterday to heart, perhaps, to go 4 for 4, surging to a still hurting .226.  He added 3 RBIs. 

Cleon Jones for the Mets in the Year of the Pitcher in 1968 struggled like Bo has, hitting just .225 through June 2, and then surged to .300 on the last day of the season before slipping back to a fine .297. 

Bo, we need a Cleon repeat.

AJ Ewing? He went a much needed 3 for 5. Nice going, AJ..

The anemic Baty and Semien meanwhile went 0 for 10 as a non-producing part of a robust 14 hit attack. The anemic duo combined are hitting an anemic .226, a # with which the anemic-until-today Bichette can identify.

Houston used to be called the Colt 45s. 

Maybe the Mets can call themselves the New York 226’s.

Freddy Peralta (4-4) went a strong 6 innings of one run ball for the win. 

Joey Gerber tidily closed the game out 1-2-3 in the 9th. 

I’ve loved Gerber since I was a wee baby. Keep rolling, Joey.

Here is my minor league game update: 

Jonah Tong was sent down to AAA, reportedly to work on his command. 

He put on his sunglasses and said, I’ll be BACK!

Syracuse?

Senga lost on Wednesday, allowing 10 runners in 5 AAA innings. Oh, boy.

“Ryan Whifford” got up 3 times in game one, and did what? Go ahead, guess…fanned 3 times. Up to 83 Ks in 57 games (1.46 per game) after game one. 

By comparison, in Lucas Duda’s call up year late in 2010, he fanned 84 times in 115 minor league games (0.73 per game). 

Same # of Ks but twice as many games.

Yes, indeed, Clifford is fanning at 2X the rate that fellow slugger Duda did. 

My psychiatrist asked me, “tell me, how does that make you feel?” 

My reply was not pretty, but I will keep it private. Furniture was smashed.

Then, Syracuse destroyed 13-2 SWB in the 2nd seven inning game.

Clifford (.227) redeemed himself in game 2 as he had 2-3 and a walk. 

Kevin “I Love A” Parada had a hit and walk and 3 RBIs.  

KP has 9 RBIs, and a .355 average, in 9 AAA games.

Cristian Arroyo (.305) was 2-3 and a walk and 4 rib eyes. Arroyo, 30, has 917 career MLB ABs, with a .252 average. Last MLB game in 2023.

In the 2nd seven inning game, each team used 5 pitchers. Imagine if it went 9 innings.

Matt Rudick went up 87 AAA points yesterday, to .207. He was 3 for 25 in Syracuse, but went 3-4 and a walk yesterday in the DH. Overall, Matt is still at just .147 in 95 ABs this season, multi-level, but like a certain Binghamton guy, below, Matt may have just awakened.

Binghamton? They scored 16 runs! They needed them all, winning 16-11.

News flash! 

JT Schwartz had 3 hits, including a HR, and SEVEN RBIs! 

Remarkable!

He was completely dead in the water, hitting .158 as of May 24, but has jumped 50 points since, and blasted 6 HRs in his last 12 games. 

Unreal. From horrid to torrid. Stay torrid. 

Tell JT…we need a competent first baseman in Queens.

Six other unnamed Bingo hitters added 2 hits apiece. 

Brooklyn lost 5-4, and fanned 15 times. Making it 571 times in 52 games.

Afterwards, Tom Jones sang, “It’s Not Unusual, to Fan More Than Anyone.”

St Lucie, in the 7 inning, first of two game opener? Elian Peña went hitless. 

So did everyone else, as the Lucites got no hit, 2-0. 12 SL Mets fanned. 

Trey Snyder went 0-3 in his first post-rehab game. 

Cam Tilly nicely tossed 5 shutout innings for the Lucites. 

St Lucie was also hitless in the first 2 innings of the nightcap. 

Ended up losing 5-3 in the nightcap, surrendering 4 late inning unearned runs. 

St Lucie fanned 25 times in 14 innings. 

Call them “Ain’t Lucie.” As in, ain’t making contact.

The FCL Mets (10-10) rallied for 2 runs in extras, in the bottom of the 8th, for a 7-6 win. 

Both of those late runs came, unusually, on sacrifice flies!

Consider yourselves “happily recapped”.

Alex Rubinson - The Mets Need to Fully Unleash Jonah Tong

Let’s go back to the 2018 postseason. The most iconic moment during that October was a young Milwaukee Brewers hurler in Brandon Woodruff shocking the world by hitting a bomb off of Clayton Kershaw, the future slam dunk Hall of Famer. It was even more impressive that it was lefty versus lefty. 

The Brewers would lose that series, but they did take game one with Woodruff being the hero on the mound and at the plate. What most people forget about that contest is that Milwaukee’s starter that day was not Woodruff but Gio Gonzalez. Woodruff was the second pitcher to enter the game in what was a bullpen game for the Brewers. 

So what does this 2018 moment have to do with the 2026 New York Mets? Back when he was running the show in Milwaukee, David Stearns often got his top pitching prospects acclimated to the big leagues by throwing them into reliever roles, like what we saw with Woodruff. 

It’s hard to argue against the philosophy given Milwaukee's history of developing pitchers. With that being said, that idea should not be universal in how every pitcher is treated, which brings us to the present day Mets. 

Yesterday, New York optioned prized prospect Jonah Tong down to AAA after his third appearance of the season. Although we expected Tong to get most of the work on Tuesday night, it was still a mystery as to how Stearns and Carlos Mendoza would deploy the righty. As I outlined above, using young future starting pitchers in the bullpen can be a successful way to get them comfortable pitching at the big league level. 

It also needs to be determined on a case-by-case basis with a heavy influence being on the state of the team. The Brewers embraced pitching chaos and had a history of being able to execute it effectively. The Mets have had more success as of late, but with the starting rotation struggling, it made very little sense to use Tong out of the bullpen. 

After Clay Holmes suffered a fractured fibula that will hold him out for the foreseeable future, the Mets didn’t have an immediate replacement. This went along with David Peterson’s struggles in the starting five along with Sean Manaea being relegated to the bullpen before a promising bulk outing on Monday. All of this is to say that Tong should be a staple of the Mets rotation going forward. 

Tong’s outings won’t always be pretty (3.1 innings and four earned runs in his last appearance out of the bullpen illustrated that). He’s still young and will undergo a lot of growing pains. Maybe I am naive in thinking the Mets season is still far from over. Although it hurts to be in the National League compared to the American League, teams have comeback from greater deficits. 

With that being said, this is still a team that is well under .500. As Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing injected some life into the lineup, the youth movement should not stop there but instead extend to the rotation. 

Although the sample size is incredibly small, some of the numbers coming into Tong’s bulk outing on Tuesday were intriguing. Even with his clunker on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, Tong had induced plenty of weak contact. He has a minuscule barrel rate of just six percent with a 30% hard hit rate. 

Opponents are unable to square up any of Tong’s pitches. Prior to his last appearance, the young right-hander had an incredible 55% ground ball rate. Some of these values are in large part due to Tong barley pitching in 2026, but even if there is some regression to the mean built in, this might be the type of pitcher Tong blossoms into. 

The weak contact had helped Tong pitch to a .168 opponent batting average in his first couple of bullpen outings. When comparing his first two appearances this year to a season ago, he had cut his barrel rate by two-thirds and increased his ground ball rate by nearly 15 percentage points. 

Although it got roughed up on Tuesday, Tong had a fastball run value of two coming into that day. Last year, in limited playing time, it was at negative four. A plus-six jump is monumental. 

Tong isn’t throwing any harder than he did a year ago. Instead, he is actually throwing fewer four-seam fastballs. Maybe this changes as he works deeper into ballgames, but cutting back on the pitch has made it more lethal. 

His four-seamer is still his primary pitch, but instead of going to it 57% of the time in 2025, that is now down to 45% this season. The pitch that has potentially taken his repertoire up a notch? That would be a cutter. Tong did not have a cutter in his back pocket a season ago, but he has gone to that pitch over 20% of the time (including a hefty number against Seattle). The cutter has made up for fewer four-seam fastballs, while also cutting his curveball usage in half. 

Tong was one of the hottest pitching prospects in all of baseball before making his debut towards the end of last season. No one should have any takeaways based on the minimal sample he has showed the baseball world. What has not been fair to him in his short 2026 stint is the lack of clarity with how he is being used. 

It’s quite possible these decisions are being more thoroughly discussed behind closed doors, but even hours before first pitch Monday night in Seattle, Mendoza laid out a possibility that Tong could be the guy out of the bullpen following Austin Warren as the opener. There should be enhanced clarity and consistency with how Tong will be utilized. 

The San Francisco Giants have faced a lot of much-deserved scrutiny for not playing star prospect Bryce Eldridge everyday, but the same could be said for not having Tong be a fixture in the five-man rotation. The Mets don’t have the luxury the Brewers had almost a decade ago. They are not the same team. They are not the same organization. 

With Holmes out and others not living up to the Mets hopes and dreams, Tong deserves every opportunity to start every fifth day. There will be bumps along the way, but Jonah Tong is ready to be thrusted into action from the very first inning. Right now, it’s just a matter of the Mets fully letting him go.

Paul Articulates - There is a bright side

I have been very pessimistic about the 2026 New York Mets for a variety of reasons that have been highlighted in recent posts.  I think that this year's "experiment" with a roster redesign was a dreadful failure.

But no one wants to read bad news all the time, and I certainly can see both sides of the coin, so let me talk about some of the positives I have seen that the Mets can build on for their future.

The failures of some of the Mets personnel (both in their play and in their health) have forced the Mets to bring up some of their young prospects before they otherwise would have.  Some of them have shown that they were up to the task, and there is great hope about what they can do in their future.  Here are a few that have really made an impact:

1) Carson Benge.  The front office held out until the absolute last minute this spring before finally deciding to send Benge north with the MLB team.  I'm not sure what they were pondering, but it turned out to be a great idea to choose him on the active roster.  Benge had a slow start to his season, which worried some that his confidence would be diminished.  Instead, Benge proved that he had enough confidence and enough self-awareness to make the necessary adjustments and since then he has been a very strong contributor every game.

2) AJ Ewing.  Ewing started the season in AA, so there was no one that expected him to be wearing a NYM uniform before September if at all in 2026.  But Ewing, who I believe will make his mark as an intense competitor in the category of former Mets like Lenny Dykstra, quickly moved through AAA and into New York.  His offense is still catching up a bit, but his defensive and base-running tenacity have already impacted this team.  In the last two series, Ewing has made catches in center field that may not have been made by anyone else on the roster.  The funny thing about that is how with Luis Robert and Tyrone Taylor on the IL, Ewing has displayed what "run prevention" really looks like despite not being part of the original Stearns design.

3) Christian Scott.  We all knew that Scott had talent, based on his debut in 2024.  But coming off surgery, no one really knew if we would see that version of him again.  He has come back even stronger.  On a pitching staff where there have been very few things the team can count on, Scott has become a top 3 in the rotation and has shown the ability to go deep into ballgames.  That not only makes him better, but it makes the bullpen better because they get an extra inning or two of rest when Scott pitches.

4) Austin Warren.  If you said "Austin Who?" you would not be alone.  Warren was not one of the annointed prospects moving up through the Mets' system.  He was a 2018 draft choice by the Angels that was injured, had Tommy John surgery, ended up in San Francisco, and was picked up by the Mets from the waiver wire in January this year, and made his way onto the active roster in the end of April when the Mets were playing musical chairs in the bullpen.  Since then, Warren has quietly gained the confidence of Carlos Mendoza and has seen his time increase in higher leverage situations. Currently, Warren has a 1.33 ERA in 15 games with the club.  No one is saying "Austin Who?" anymore.

If you are looking for something positive to get you through these tough stretches, just think about what these four players can do for the Mets for a long time.  Warren is 30, Scott 26, Benge 23, and Ewing 21 years old.  All are currently under team control.  Hopefully there will be even more to write about soon.

RVH - Rethinking the Mets, Part 3: The Yankees Didn't Eliminate Pressure. They Learned How to Carry It

 In Part 1 of this series, we argued that the Mets do not have an ambition problem. They have an execution problem.

In Part 2, we examined how slow starts create a pressure-amplification cycle that makes every season feel harder than it needs to be.

That naturally raises the next question:

How do successful organizations avoid allowing pressure to consume them?

No franchise provides a better case study than the Yankees.

Because while the Yankees have won 27 World Series championships, they have also spent the last sixteen-plus years failing to win one.

And yet they remain one of the most stable organizations in professional sports.

That isn't an accident.

It's an advantage.

The Yankees' Greatest Advantage Isn't Their Payroll

When people talk about the Yankees, they usually start with money.

That's understandable.

The Yankees have spent aggressively for decades.

But money alone doesn't explain what separates them from most organizations.

The Mets spend aggressively.

The Phillies spend aggressively.

The Padres spend aggressively.

Several organizations now operate with payrolls that rival the Yankees.

Yet none possess what may be the Yankees' most valuable asset: Trust.

Not fan trust.

Organizational trust.

The belief that even when things go wrong, the organization knows where it's going.

That belief has been built over generations.

And it changes everything.

The Yankees Haven't Won Nearly As Much As People Think

This may sound strange to Mets fans, but the modern Yankees are not a dynasty.

They haven't won a World Series since 2009.

Since then, they've experienced:

• painful playoff losses

• disappointing seasons

• failed free-agent signings

• aging roster cycles

• prospect misses

• managerial controversies

• front-office criticism

Yet through all of it, one thing has remained remarkably constant:

Nobody seriously questions whether the Yankees are a legitimate baseball organization.

Nobody questions whether ownership is committed.

Nobody questions whether they expect to contend.

Nobody questions whether elite players want to play there.

The pressure is real.

The doubt is limited.

That's an important distinction.

Stability Is The Real Advantage

The Yankees have spent the last quarter-century building something every organization wants and very few achieve:

Stability.

Since the late 1990s, the Yankees have remained remarkably consistent in who they are.

Different players.

Different managers.

Different executives.

Different competitive cycles.

The organization itself remains recognizable.

The standards remain recognizable.

The expectations remain recognizable.

The identity remains recognizable.

That consistency creates confidence.

Confidence creates trust.

Trust creates stability.

And stability helps organizations survive difficult periods without losing their direction.

Compare That To The Mets

One of the defining characteristics of the Mets over the last forty years has been: Change.

Different ownership groups.

Different front offices.

Different baseball philosophies.

Different rebuilding plans.

Different timelines.

Different promises.

Different visions.

When disappointment arrives, the organization often responds with another reset.

The Yankees typically respond with adjustments.

That distinction matters.

One approach reinforces stability.

The other reinforces uncertainty.

The Yankees And Mets Don't Experience The Same New York

This is perhaps the most misunderstood dynamic in baseball.

The Yankees and Mets share a city.

They do not share the same environment.

When the Yankees struggle, the conversation usually becomes:

"How do they fix this?"

When the Mets struggle, the conversation often becomes:

"Are we doing this again?"

One assumes competence.

The other questions it.

That's what decades of accumulated trust buy you.

The Yankees begin every season with the benefit of the doubt.

The Mets are still trying to earn it.

The Cohen Era Changed The Landscape

When Steve Cohen purchased the Mets, many people assumed New York baseball would fundamentally change.

For the first time, the Mets had an owner capable of matching or exceeding the Yankees financially.

Many expected the Yankees' advantage to erode.

Instead, something interesting happened.

The Yankees largely remained the Yankees.

They continued competing.

They continued reaching the postseason.

They reached the World Series in 2024.

They continued operating with the same confidence and stability that had defined them for decades.

Why?

Because their advantage was never just money.

Money was only one layer.

Underneath sat trust.

Continuity.

Identity.

Expectations.

Organizational confidence.

Those advantages cannot be purchased.

They must be earned.

What The Mets Should Learn

The lesson here is not that the Mets should try to become the Yankees.

They can't.

No organization can replicate a century of history.

But they can learn from what the Yankees built.

The Yankees did not eliminate pressure.

Pressure is permanent in New York.

Pressure is permanent when expectations are high.

Pressure is permanent when championships are the goal.

What the Yankees learned was how to carry it.

How to absorb criticism without abandoning the plan.

How to endure disappointment without questioning their identity.

How to remain stable when the environment becomes unstable.

That's the real advantage.

And it may be one of the most important gaps the Mets still need to close.

Because before an organization can become a consistent winner, it must first become consistently itself.

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Part 3 Thesis

The Yankees did not eliminate pressure.

They learned how to carry it.

Decades of trust, stability, and organizational consistency allow them to absorb adversity without questioning who they are every time something goes wrong.

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What We've Learned So Far

Part 1: The Mets do not have an ambition problem. They have an execution problem.

Part 2: The Mets' slow-start problem is not a standings problem. It is a pressure-amplification problem.

Part 3: The Yankees did not eliminate pressure. They learned how to carry it.

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Next: Part 4 – The Braves Built a Baseball Machine

If the Yankees show how organizations survive pressure, the Braves show how organizations survive something equally dangerous: randomness. Injuries, free agency, prospect failures, and roster turnover are unavoidable. The Braves keep winning because they've built a system capable of replacing what they lose faster than most organizations can.