I just saw he went viral, I think he's actually 6'8"! (video below) admittedly, I had never heard of him previously but have to like those bloodlines Link - ( New Window )
He turned 21 in June, sitting 92-95 and touching 97 with ELITE FB shape. He's not a top 100 prospect (yet). Who is overrating him exactly? He throws just as hard as Christian Scott, in fact Sproat is probably the only SP in the system that throws significantly harder than Tong, who is 2+ years younger than most "higher ranked" arms in the system.
take Tong over Tidwell and upside wise, probably #1 arm in the system. Odds are against him hitting his absolute ceiling (because how many players actually do?) but he'd be an easy first round pick right now if he were draft eligible and given his relative lack of pitching experience... a LOT to like.
Every time I mention how bad Stewart has been he does something good so... last 28 days .133/.278/.233. He's 0 for his last 12. Unbelievably long leash (40 starts), with a minor league option left for a team in the mix for the playoffs
If he’s on the roster, he’s going to have to play every once in a while, but I hope we NEVER have to see him in the middle of the lineup again.
Every time I mention how bad Stewart has been he does something good so... last 28 days .133/.278/.233. He's 0 for his last 12. Unbelievably long leash (40 starts), with a minor league option left for a team in the mix for the playoffs
If he’s on the roster, he’s going to have to play every once in a while, but I hope we NEVER have to see him in the middle of the lineup again.
Pretty bizarre at this point. 1. Stearns has had a quick trigger overall 2. Stearns values defense 3. He has an option left, not even a "forever" decision.
Since 9/1-2023, DJ Stewart 86 games played .180/.312/.318 (89 wRC+), negative 0.2 fWAR
Lotta buzz down here about a local college Pitcher coming out this year. His name is Trey Pooser (great baseball name).
Played for College of Charleston Cougars and showed well in the NCAA Tournament. Won many accolades for the Cougs. He had eligibility left when he graduated in 2023, so he went to U of Kentucky as a Grad Student. And put in a good season in 2024.
Kid's got size at 6' 4" and 200 lbs. Is he on any of the pre-draft lists ?? Link - ( New Window )
Lotta buzz down here about a local college Pitcher coming out this year. His name is Trey Pooser (great baseball name).
Played for College of Charleston Cougars and showed well in the NCAA Tournament. Won many accolades for the Cougs. He had eligibility left when he graduated in 2023, so he went to U of Kentucky as a Grad Student. And put in a good season in 2024.
Kid's got size at 6' 4" and 200 lbs. Is he on any of the pre-draft lists ?? Link - ( New Window )
Did not make BA's top 500 draft eligible players (I just checked, I obviously didn't memorize it)
Success for only like a year, he was a 9thish round pick. Maybe he touched 97 once. Weird delivery, can he keep it up?
I think he is way overrated. Has to prove it for an additional full year. Needs to average 94 on the fastball and consistently hit 97-98 to be considered anything more than a Tylor Megill type.
not looking to rile up Eric but decent exit velocities only mean so much. Acuna is a speed/defense player who hopefully can hit enough to be a viable regular. 12 players in the IL have been worse than him in 2024 (wRC+) out of 116 players, his ISO is 102/116, his BB% is 105/116, OBP 98/116 and then there's the 3 for his last 25.
There is absolutely nothing in his numbers that suggests he's ready to help a big league team offensively and it's questionable development-wise if it makes sense to have him play sporadically as a bench piece right now. Logic would suggest a 7.0% BB rate in AAA is going to look pretty ugly right now with the big club. Somebody like Ritter or Brosseau likely should be the next man up for now.
the amount he can/cant help the big league team offensively depends on who he ends up getting at bats over. if it's stewart/mcneil/gamel it's not that high of a bar.
the amount he could help them defensively could be worth it as it has been with iglesias, and while he's passed the eye test iglesias' defensive numbers arent even that good. he is -2 OAA with a 5th percentile arm. iglesias has obviously hit way beyond expectations but he's 34 and never hit much, so id prefer him as a nice bench/depth piece than counting on him as the every day 2b.
acuna could very well come up and not hit at all right now but i think he'd learn something new, and hopefully hed be able to take that back to AAA with him so whenever the next call up comes he's better prepared. players at AAA are always 1 injury away.
Success for only like a year, he was a 9thish round pick. Maybe he touched 97 once. Weird delivery, can he keep it up?
I think he is way overrated. Has to prove it for an additional full year. Needs to average 94 on the fastball and consistently hit 97-98 to be considered anything more than a Tylor Megill type.
97 once?
"The 6-foot-1 hurler throws directly over the top, and that delivery helps him get elite ride on his four-seam fastball. The offering sits 92-94 mph, topping out at 97, and averaged 20.6 inches of induced vertical break, tops among any pitcher that threw a fastball in the FSL. Tong can also snap off a mid-80s curveball that plays well off the verticality of the fastball, and his tight mid-80s slider can also get whiffs. Tong has an 84-86 mph changeup for use against lefties, but that’s a work in progress even though he’s dominated early on in 2024.
Tong experienced control issues in 2022 and 2023 but looked like he ironed those out early on in St. Lucie this spring, in part because he was getting so much swing-and-miss above the zone where he needs to live to dominate. It’s worth monitoring how his walk rate is affected by facing more patient hitters at the upper levels, but there’s no doubting he’s on a path to being a Mets development win."-Pipeline
BA-
Quote:
The larger filled bubbles indicate whiffs. You can see how his fastball just chews up hitters when it gets 21 inches or more of ride. As crazy has his performance has been, it might get even better if he can consistently get to that magic 21-inch number.
When you get that much ride, velocity doesn’t matter, but Tong is averaging a very respectable albeit slightly below-average 92.7 mph. However, he’s been as high as 97.2 mph, indicating two very positive things: First, he’s pitching well below his max, suggesting he might be less of an injury risk, as he’s not pitching at max effort. Second, he has the potential to sit 95 mph or above, assuming natural growth and maturation. Performance can often be misleading at the lower levels of the minors. However, when you combine elite traits with a 47% whiff rate (in zone and out of zone, righties and lefties), along with a monstrous 20.3% swinging strike rate (against both righties and lefties), it’s basically checking every single pitch quality box you can ask for.
Christian Scott's average FB velocity is 94.3 and he's 4 years older than Tong.
And I ask again, who is "overrating" him? He's a top 15 prospect in the Mets system
is his previous start blowing his FB by hitters because of well above average ride. It would be pretty stunning if Tong doesn't end up throwing at least as hard as Scott with normal maturation of his body Link - ( New Window )
Donovan Antonia had a 38 wRC+ with the FCL Mets, 42 wRC+ with @stluciemets
on the year .157/.252/.220... what if I told you he's been promoted to @BKCyclones
?
Lincecum was on a HOF track. Jonah Tong will never be Tim Lincecum. Jonah Tong is ranked the #18 prospect in the Mets system by fangraphs, #20 by pipeline, #15 for BA. I can't speak for "Mets twitter", who also still think Alex Ramirez is going to be a star but Tong generally speaking is viewed as a developmental prospect, having an outstanding season, who has traits that suggest he could be very good.
13 pitchers in the SAL 21 or younger
Tong 4th in K/9, 4th in era, 2nd in FIP, 2nd in xFIP, 3rd in k%, 2nd in average against and he just turned 21. He will be 21 until mid-season 2025.
Jonah Tong 6 innings 3 hits 1 run 0 walks 7 k’s. Tong has struck out 28 while walking only 4 over his last 3 starts (17 innings) . 2 ER allowed over that span #Mets
ops up to .923, batting avg up to .230. ive compared him to duda a lot, duda didnt get to AA until age 23 and when he got there he ops'd 808.
even compared to vientos/alvarez cliffords power at 20 years old for that level is kind of wow. vientos didnt get to AA until his age 21 because of the lost covid year and he ops'd 929. alvarez got there at 20 years old and he ops'd .922. mauricio got there at 20 and he ops'd 815 but only for 8 games. his next year there at 21 in a full sample he ops'd 767.
ops up to .923, batting avg up to .230. ive compared him to duda a lot, duda didnt get to AA until age 23 and when he got there he ops'd 808.
even compared to vientos/alvarez cliffords power at 20 years old for that level is kind of wow. vientos didnt get to AA until his age 21 because of the lost covid year and he ops'd 929. alvarez got there at 20 years old and he ops'd .922. mauricio got there at 20 and he ops'd 815 but only for 8 games. his next year there at 21 in a full sample he ops'd 767.
Like I said he's my most interesting bat in system. Scouting reports underplay his power it seems. People forget he's only 20.
Garcia is not having a good season (allowed 5 runs last night striking out 6) but he's one of the more obvious "move him to the bullpen and you may have something there) arms in the system.
“I’ve been working some counts a little better,” he said. “Getting the two strikes and being able to pick up a couple knocks here and there just to give myself a fighting chance by getting my best swing off early, but also trying to do good damage.”
been told Tong's innings limit is believe to be around 90, so that's roughly 18 innings left in his season
In that case they'll basically give him 3 inning stints to spread it out the rest of the season?
I don't know the actual "plan" but he's at 72 innings pitched... didn't debut in 2022 (his draft year), 21 innings last season. So he's at +51 innings on the season.
been told Tong's innings limit is believe to be around 90, so that's roughly 18 innings left in his season
In that case they'll basically give him 3 inning stints to spread it out the rest of the season?
I don't know the actual "plan" but he's at 72 innings pitched... didn't debut in 2022 (his draft year), 21 innings last season. So he's at +51 innings on the season.
Yeah agreed with you it's coming up but was curious if they'll totally shut him down or try and let him push on regular rotation but in smaller doses.
If he is indeed shut down at 90ish innings then he can go into next season with essentially "no" restrictions. How many SP are throwing more than 140 innings at this point? 90-100 is a good number headed into 2025. Sproat 106 last season, likely no restrictions or a high #
Tough to get a feel in that video for what he is sitting at. I continue to be amazed that our pitching prospects are driving the farm. Clifford really only bat performing at expectations (granted injuries contributed there).
Tough to get a feel in that video for what he is sitting at. I continue to be amazed that our pitching prospects are driving the farm. Clifford really only bat performing at expectations (granted injuries contributed there).
Last night he was 93-95,touched 96 a few times. FB has elite characteristics, ride shape, aka the type of fastball they used to say was a "rising" FB, it's the kind of FB that misses more bats than the pure velocity would suggest. His FB is already the type you can dream on (even without added velocity, which I do expect to come), the development of his secondaries will be the deciding factor (obviously health too)
Everyone thinks he’s the next lincecum. Also I don’t think Christian Scott is that good. He’s OK.
The next Lincecum? Sign me up! He was a top 5 starter in his prime, his prime just happened to be short. That’s like saying he’s the next deGrom. I’ll take the upside and hope you can manage any injury risk.
Everyone thinks he’s the next lincecum. Also I don’t think Christian Scott is that good. He’s OK.
The next Lincecum? Sign me up! He was a top 5 starter in his prime, his prime just happened to be short. That’s like saying he’s the next deGrom. I’ll take the upside and hope you can manage any injury risk.
And another thing taking Twitter takes as gospel. Twitter has also been crying for the Mets to call up Acura NOW! Not everyone with a Twitter account knows baseball.
But at this point does anyone feel that they can count on anyone in the farm to be a back up outfielder to start the season next year? Unless Williams and Gilbert go to AFL and go gangbusters, the Mets will unfortunately have to be in the market for an outfielder And after Soto it’s not all that desirable. In theory you can resign Bader for cf and hope that the corpse of Marte can hold it together for the first 6-8 weeks. Another alternative would be to play Baty in LF and hope he can get his head on straight, let Alonso walk, and sign someone like adames and move him to 3rd. Anyway you cut it between the amount of payroll coming off and the amount of holes it is going to be a fascinating offseason.
Everyone thinks he’s the next lincecum. Also I don’t think Christian Scott is that good. He’s OK.
The next Lincecum? Sign me up! He was a top 5 starter in his prime, his prime just happened to be short. That’s like saying he’s the next deGrom. I’ll take the upside and hope you can manage any injury risk.
He’s saying Mets twitter is too high on Tong with unrealistic expectations. The projected next Lincecum would be the current top P prospect in baseball easily.
But at this point does anyone feel that they can count on anyone in the farm to be a back up outfielder to start the season next year? Unless Williams and Gilbert go to AFL and go gangbusters, the Mets will unfortunately have to be in the market for an outfielder And after Soto it’s not all that desirable. In theory you can resign Bader for cf and hope that the corpse of Marte can hold it together for the first 6-8 weeks. Another alternative would be to play Baty in LF and hope he can get his head on straight, let Alonso walk, and sign someone like adames and move him to 3rd. Anyway you cut it between the amount of payroll coming off and the amount of holes it is going to be a fascinating offseason.
Jett Williams isn’t going to be an OD option (would mean he skipped AA and AAA after missing an entire season) Gilbert likely remains a viable option assuming he’s back by August or so. Otherwise, no. They don’t have much in the way of MLB ready or close to MLB ready OFers. Ramirez has been awful
My jinxes haven't been working with DJ Stewart, they did work with Ryan Clifford... so let's try this... Luisangel Acuna is 3 for his last 25 and 6 for his last 38 #Mets
and his name is Ace.
I just saw he went viral, I think he's actually 6'8"! (video below) admittedly, I had never heard of him previously but have to like those bloodlines
Link - ( New Window )
He turned 21 in June, sitting 92-95 and touching 97 with ELITE FB shape. He's not a top 100 prospect (yet). Who is overrating him exactly? He throws just as hard as Christian Scott, in fact Sproat is probably the only SP in the system that throws significantly harder than Tong, who is 2+ years younger than most "higher ranked" arms in the system.
If he’s on the roster, he’s going to have to play every once in a while, but I hope we NEVER have to see him in the middle of the lineup again.
Quote:
Every time I mention how bad Stewart has been he does something good so... last 28 days .133/.278/.233. He's 0 for his last 12. Unbelievably long leash (40 starts), with a minor league option left for a team in the mix for the playoffs
If he’s on the roster, he’s going to have to play every once in a while, but I hope we NEVER have to see him in the middle of the lineup again.
Pretty bizarre at this point. 1. Stearns has had a quick trigger overall 2. Stearns values defense 3. He has an option left, not even a "forever" decision.
Since 9/1-2023, DJ Stewart 86 games played .180/.312/.318 (89 wRC+), negative 0.2 fWAR
Played for College of Charleston Cougars and showed well in the NCAA Tournament. Won many accolades for the Cougs. He had eligibility left when he graduated in 2023, so he went to U of Kentucky as a Grad Student. And put in a good season in 2024.
Kid's got size at 6' 4" and 200 lbs. Is he on any of the pre-draft lists ??
Link - ( New Window )
Played for College of Charleston Cougars and showed well in the NCAA Tournament. Won many accolades for the Cougs. He had eligibility left when he graduated in 2023, so he went to U of Kentucky as a Grad Student. And put in a good season in 2024.
Kid's got size at 6' 4" and 200 lbs. Is he on any of the pre-draft lists ?? Link - ( New Window )
Did not make BA's top 500 draft eligible players (I just checked, I obviously didn't memorize it)
Hit .393/.533/.900 this season, yes, he slugged .900. 54 walks/38 k's
I think he is way overrated. Has to prove it for an additional full year. Needs to average 94 on the fastball and consistently hit 97-98 to be considered anything more than a Tylor Megill type.
There is absolutely nothing in his numbers that suggests he's ready to help a big league team offensively and it's questionable development-wise if it makes sense to have him play sporadically as a bench piece right now. Logic would suggest a 7.0% BB rate in AAA is going to look pretty ugly right now with the big club. Somebody like Ritter or Brosseau likely should be the next man up for now.
the amount he can/cant help the big league team offensively depends on who he ends up getting at bats over. if it's stewart/mcneil/gamel it's not that high of a bar.
the amount he could help them defensively could be worth it as it has been with iglesias, and while he's passed the eye test iglesias' defensive numbers arent even that good. he is -2 OAA with a 5th percentile arm. iglesias has obviously hit way beyond expectations but he's 34 and never hit much, so id prefer him as a nice bench/depth piece than counting on him as the every day 2b.
acuna could very well come up and not hit at all right now but i think he'd learn something new, and hopefully hed be able to take that back to AAA with him so whenever the next call up comes he's better prepared. players at AAA are always 1 injury away.
I think he is way overrated. Has to prove it for an additional full year. Needs to average 94 on the fastball and consistently hit 97-98 to be considered anything more than a Tylor Megill type.
97 once?
"The 6-foot-1 hurler throws directly over the top, and that delivery helps him get elite ride on his four-seam fastball. The offering sits 92-94 mph, topping out at 97, and averaged 20.6 inches of induced vertical break, tops among any pitcher that threw a fastball in the FSL. Tong can also snap off a mid-80s curveball that plays well off the verticality of the fastball, and his tight mid-80s slider can also get whiffs. Tong has an 84-86 mph changeup for use against lefties, but that’s a work in progress even though he’s dominated early on in 2024.
Tong experienced control issues in 2022 and 2023 but looked like he ironed those out early on in St. Lucie this spring, in part because he was getting so much swing-and-miss above the zone where he needs to live to dominate. It’s worth monitoring how his walk rate is affected by facing more patient hitters at the upper levels, but there’s no doubting he’s on a path to being a Mets development win."-Pipeline
BA-
When you get that much ride, velocity doesn’t matter, but Tong is averaging a very respectable albeit slightly below-average 92.7 mph. However, he’s been as high as 97.2 mph, indicating two very positive things: First, he’s pitching well below his max, suggesting he might be less of an injury risk, as he’s not pitching at max effort. Second, he has the potential to sit 95 mph or above, assuming natural growth and maturation. Performance can often be misleading at the lower levels of the minors. However, when you combine elite traits with a 47% whiff rate (in zone and out of zone, righties and lefties), along with a monstrous 20.3% swinging strike rate (against both righties and lefties), it’s basically checking every single pitch quality box you can ask for.
Christian Scott's average FB velocity is 94.3 and he's 4 years older than Tong.
And I ask again, who is "overrating" him? He's a top 15 prospect in the Mets system
Link - ( New Window )
@Mets
RHP Phil Maton has been activated.
RHP Eric Orze has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
RHP Reed Garrett has been placed on the 15-Day IL with right elbow inflammation.
LHP Danny Young has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse.
on the year .157/.252/.220... what if I told you he's been promoted to @BKCyclones
?
Jennie is 6' and Casey is 6'-6".
It is not surprising that their son is a pitcher
13 pitchers in the SAL 21 or younger
Tong 4th in K/9, 4th in era, 2nd in FIP, 2nd in xFIP, 3rd in k%, 2nd in average against and he just turned 21. He will be 21 until mid-season 2025.
"hoped" for a mid-July return for Drew Gilbert... might we see him soon? or another timeline pushback?
Double-header Thursday starting at 4:05 pam. Let's play two !!
ops up to .923, batting avg up to .230. ive compared him to duda a lot, duda didnt get to AA until age 23 and when he got there he ops'd 808.
even compared to vientos/alvarez cliffords power at 20 years old for that level is kind of wow. vientos didnt get to AA until his age 21 because of the lost covid year and he ops'd 929. alvarez got there at 20 years old and he ops'd .922. mauricio got there at 20 and he ops'd 815 but only for 8 games. his next year there at 21 in a full sample he ops'd 767.
Quote:
Added a 2nd HR this evening. 3/6 with 3 XBH.
ops up to .923, batting avg up to .230. ive compared him to duda a lot, duda didnt get to AA until age 23 and when he got there he ops'd 808.
even compared to vientos/alvarez cliffords power at 20 years old for that level is kind of wow. vientos didnt get to AA until his age 21 because of the lost covid year and he ops'd 929. alvarez got there at 20 years old and he ops'd .922. mauricio got there at 20 and he ops'd 815 but only for 8 games. his next year there at 21 in a full sample he ops'd 767.
Like I said he's my most interesting bat in system. Scouting reports underplay his power it seems. People forget he's only 20.
In that case they'll basically give him 3 inning stints to spread it out the rest of the season?
Quote:
been told Tong's innings limit is believe to be around 90, so that's roughly 18 innings left in his season
In that case they'll basically give him 3 inning stints to spread it out the rest of the season?
I don't know the actual "plan" but he's at 72 innings pitched... didn't debut in 2022 (his draft year), 21 innings last season. So he's at +51 innings on the season.
Quote:
In comment 16551551 DanMetroMan said:
Quote:
been told Tong's innings limit is believe to be around 90, so that's roughly 18 innings left in his season
In that case they'll basically give him 3 inning stints to spread it out the rest of the season?
I don't know the actual "plan" but he's at 72 innings pitched... didn't debut in 2022 (his draft year), 21 innings last season. So he's at +51 innings on the season.
Yeah agreed with you it's coming up but was curious if they'll totally shut him down or try and let him push on regular rotation but in smaller doses.
Link - ( New Window )
Last night he was 93-95,touched 96 a few times. FB has elite characteristics, ride shape, aka the type of fastball they used to say was a "rising" FB, it's the kind of FB that misses more bats than the pure velocity would suggest. His FB is already the type you can dream on (even without added velocity, which I do expect to come), the development of his secondaries will be the deciding factor (obviously health too)
The next Lincecum? Sign me up! He was a top 5 starter in his prime, his prime just happened to be short. That’s like saying he’s the next deGrom. I’ll take the upside and hope you can manage any injury risk.
Quote:
Everyone thinks he’s the next lincecum. Also I don’t think Christian Scott is that good. He’s OK.
The next Lincecum? Sign me up! He was a top 5 starter in his prime, his prime just happened to be short. That’s like saying he’s the next deGrom. I’ll take the upside and hope you can manage any injury risk.
And another thing taking Twitter takes as gospel. Twitter has also been crying for the Mets to call up Acura NOW! Not everyone with a Twitter account knows baseball.
Quote:
Everyone thinks he’s the next lincecum. Also I don’t think Christian Scott is that good. He’s OK.
The next Lincecum? Sign me up! He was a top 5 starter in his prime, his prime just happened to be short. That’s like saying he’s the next deGrom. I’ll take the upside and hope you can manage any injury risk.
He’s saying Mets twitter is too high on Tong with unrealistic expectations. The projected next Lincecum would be the current top P prospect in baseball easily.
Jett Williams isn’t going to be an OD option (would mean he skipped AA and AAA after missing an entire season) Gilbert likely remains a viable option assuming he’s back by August or so. Otherwise, no. They don’t have much in the way of MLB ready or close to MLB ready OFers. Ramirez has been awful
It's been explained to me Gilbert did indeed have 2 set backs. 1 not involving his hammy at all.
Yes! Stay healthy and hit please.
@mike_petriello
Wrote about Brandon Nimmo, who has ..
0 ASG
0 Gold Gloves
0 Silver Sluggers
0 ROY votes
0 MVP votes
.. and, with 25 career WAR, is one of the most valuable "never placed anywhere in an award" players of the last century. And I looked!