NEW YORK — After it all, after this night of so many unforgettable firsts, what Jonah Tong will remember most is what he couldn’t feel.
It was the moment he was walking back to the dugout, a fifth-inning strikeout punctuating his major-league debut against the Marlins and sending the sellout crowd of Citi Field into another frenzy.
“Everything got a blur after,” he said postgame. “I couldn’t really feel my feet. I really couldn’t hear myself think, which is a new one.”
Friday’s game was a new one in a lot of ways for the Mets, who scored more runs (19) than they ever had in 64 seasons of home games. They scored more runs (12) than they ever had in the first two innings of a game, regardless of where it was played. And maybe for the first time in major-league history, all anyone wanted to talk about after a 19-9 game was the starting pitcher.
The 22-year-old Tong talks all the time about staying in the moment, of being where his feet are. On Friday, at 7:10 p.m., they were on a big-league mound in an electric atmosphere, Nickelback’s “Burn It to the Ground” blaring on the speakers as it has for his starts since 2023.
“The whole team was in the dugout for that first pitch,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “They want to see it.”
Promoted after a meteoric rise through the Mets’ minor-league system, Tong displayed plenty of promise over his five innings Friday. The final line — four runs (one earned) on six hits — conceals the quality of the outing. All four scored in his final inning, and the three unearned runs came after a pair of New York errors prolonged that frame.
Tong struck out six and didn’t walk a batter — the latter especially impressive considering Tong walked every fifth batter he faced just two seasons ago.
Tong joined Nolan McLean in winning his major-league debut this month; the Mets have never before had two rookie starters pick up wins in their debuts in the same season. These two happened in the same fortnight.
“Insane,” Tong said afterward. “That’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of as a kid growing up.”
“It was a blast watching him pitch,” said Brandon Nimmo, who hit two home runs and scored four times.
Tong’s fastball touched 97 — his first pitch of the night was his hardest — and sat in the mid-90s. He showed off the elite ride on the pitch that makes it tough for hitters to pick up, particularly when combined with his unorthodox delivery. He got four of his six strikeouts on the fastball, and all of those were looking.
“He’s got a lot going on there,” said Mendoza. “You could tell hitters had a hard time picking it up.”
His changeup, the pitch that’s evolved so much over the course of this season, showed wiffle-ball movement down and to his arm-side, and he was able to hit both sides of the plate with it.
And his curveball, which he threw more Friday than he had in his Triple-A starts, looked like a legitimate third weapon.
“That curveball was better than anticipated,” Mendoza said.
Jonah Tong’s 2Ks in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/aKwdif8ecj
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 30, 2025
And Tong showed that off in what was, for any starter, a weird game. He retired the Marlins on six pitches in the top of the first — then sat for 25 minutes as the Mets scored five runs and sent Eury Pérez to an early exit in the bottom of the inning. After Tong stranded a leadoff double in the second, he waited 28 more minutes to return to the hill as New York scored seven more runs in the bottom of the inning. Tong stranded two in scoring position in the third.
The fifth inning was the tense one. Entering the frame, Tong was up a dozen with about 20 pitches left to record three outs and qualify for a win. Consecutive singles started the inning, and errors by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso extended it. With Tong’s pitch count rising beyond his season-high in the minors, Mendoza gave him one last batter: fellow Canadian Liam Hicks.
Once again, the crowd voiced its full-throated support when he got to two strikes. His full-count fastball was at the knees. When home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher punched out Hicks, Tong let out a yell.
“It wasn’t easy,” Mendoza said of managing that inning, “but I’m glad he got it done.”
Tong will get another start, Mendoza said postgame, with the Mets shifting to a “fluid” six-man rotation for the time being.
As much as the Mets’ revitalized offense has pushed them out of their midsummer malaise, the additions of first McLean and now Tong lend their rotation a higher upside than it possessed two weeks ago. It feels silly to say about a pair of pitchers who started the year in Double A and have four starts (albeit four wins) between them, but: They have the best stuff in the Mets’ rotation. And for a front office that has prioritized stuff, there are postseason roles — and big ones — on the table for both of them.
For the moment, the Mets are just enjoying the infusion of energy that youth brings. Tong has a genuine ebullience that has swiftly made him a fan favorite everywhere he’s played; the atmosphere in Queens on Friday felt different from the beginning.
“He’s walking from the bullpen after his warmup pitches, and you see the reaction,” Mendoza said. “We feel it.”
“This atmosphere and this environment is a lot of fun,” said Nimmo. “It’s just refreshing.”
Even while he smiled postgame, Tong acknowledged there’s work to be done. The fastball command could be sharper, some at-bats should have been shorter. He’s right back where his feet are.
(Photo: Evan Bernstein / Getty Images)
