WASHINGTON — Jonah Tong has entered the conversation as the next minor league starting pitcher who might get an opportunity with the Mets.
The right-hander was scratched from his start for Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday, after which manager Carlos Mendoza indicated that Tong may start for the Mets this weekend in Miami to provide an extra day of rest for the starting pitchers.
The Mets are in a stretch of 16 straight days with a game scheduled.
Already this season the Mets have promoted pitchers Christian Scott and Zach Thornton from Syracuse to start for the team.
The lefty Thornton made his major league debut Wednesday and suffered the loss in the Mets’ 8-4 defeat to the Nationals.
But Mendoza said it’s not certain that the extra starter will be added.
“It’s where we are with the bullpen and see how much length we get from our starters, so there is a lot that is on the table,” Mendoza said before the Mets’ loss on Wednesday night. “Ideally we would like to give [the starters] an extra day, but they are ready for whatever the team needs.”
Tong has pitched to a 5.68 ERA in nine starts this season. In his most recent appearance, he surrendered six earned runs over 1 ²/₃ innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“He’s been inconsistent, but we also like how he bounces back,” Mendoza said. “We saw it last year when he was here with us, he had a couple of tough outings and he was able to recover for the next one. We’re high on him and we have been saying it: He’s going to help us. So here he is waiting for this opportunity and I am pretty sure it’s going to come here soon.”
Tong, 22, started five games for the Mets last season and pitched to a 7.71 ERA.
A.J. Minter pitched back-to-back days for Syracuse on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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The lefty reliever is expected to pitch an additional game for Syracuse over the weekend before he’s potentially added to the Mets roster.
Minter, who underwent surgery for a torn lat last year, was close to rejoining the Mets two weeks ago before hip discomfort restarted his rehab clock.
Each of the past six Mets are come-from-behind victories. Overall, the Mets have 13 comeback wins, which was the fourth-highest total in the major leagues entering the night.
