The New York Mets hope to gain more ground in the division race when they continue their new youth movement and send rookie Jonah Tong to the mound for his MLB debut on Friday.
The young righty, 22, has been so dominant to the point of video game-like across Double and Triple-A this season. He’s also set up for success, making his first major league start against a relatively subaverage Marlins team. As in the same subaverage Marlins team that got to the Mets bullpen on Thursday and pulled off a 7-4 win.
The loss put the Mets five games behind first-place Philadelphia. Now, the Mets just need Tong to make like fellow rookie teammate Nolan McLean and fit seamlessly into the rotation.
Time: 7:10 pm ET
TV: SNY
Betting Line: Mets -1.5 (-180), O/U 7.5
Key Storyline: Live from Flushing, Queens, it’s The Tong Show! I don’t care if you’re a Yankees fan, a Phillies Phan, or even one of the twelve actual Marlins fans in existence. Anyone who loves baseball in any fashion should take one look at what Jonah Tong has done in the minors this season and try to get to Citi Field tonight by any means necessary. The young righty is only 22 years old and, through 22 starts, is 10-5 with a 1.43 ERA across both Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse.
Even better is Tong has racked up strikeouts at a rate of 14.2 per nine innings. That’s 179 strikeouts in 113.2 frames, and with only 58 hits allowed! Needless to say, don’t be shocked if Tong’s stuff plays like an electric eel against the Fish.
Pitching Matchup: Eury Perez (6-3, 3.44 ERA0 vs. Jonah Tong (MLB Debut). Matching Tong on the mound is Miami’s own talented young arm in Perez. The big (literally, at 6-foot-8) righty owns a 2.91 xERA on the year and his fastball/slider-dominant mix is one of the league’s best. Perez’s Stuff+ is at an eye-popping 116, which would tie him with Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet for the best in baseball if he had the required innings.
Tong, on the other hand, pairs his low-to-mid 90s fastball with a big slow curve and a Vulcan changeup. His offspeed mix versus the harder-throwing Eury Perez. Add a funky windup, and this could be more Tong’s advantage than we think.
X-Factor: Ryan Helsley. The former All-Star hasn’t worked out in New York thus far, but we may finally have an answer. He’s tipping his pitches. This needs to be rectified fast if he’s going to be a high-leverage bullpen arm in the playoffs.
He hasn’t pitched since Tuesday, and the Marlins tend to hit Helsley well. He has a 4.32 ERA in eight appearances against Miami. This game could be close, so it’d be great if Helsley quickly returns to All-Star form.
Prediction: No disrespect to the Marlins, but their lineup doesn’t seem the type to jump on an untested rookie, particularly one like Tong. Between his windup drawing comparisons to Tim Lincecum and seeming mastery of his breaking pitches, Miami could easily have their hands full. Thus, if you’re on New York sports betting apps or New Jersey online casinos, my advice is simple.
Bet the Mets and the under. Nothing more, nothing less. Mets 4, Marlins 1.
Make sure you have ESNY set as your source preference!
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