Mets’ Jonah Tong Reflects on Struggles in Loss to Mariners: ‘I Just Got to Do a Better Job’

After a promising start to the season, Mets right-hander Jonah Tong faced a challenging outing against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. The 22-year-old entered the game in the second inning but struggled significantly, allowing five runs (four earned) over 3.1 innings. The turning point came in the fifth inning when Jhonny Pereda launched a three-run homer, pushing the Mariners ahead with a commanding 7-2 lead.

Following the loss, Tong candidly acknowledged his difficulties, particularly with his fastball command. Despite a solid first inning, he recognized the need for greater consistency moving forward. “I obviously didn’t have my fastball command for most of the game, so moving forward that’s definitely going to be the thing I’ll focus on in the next few games, weeks,” Tong said. He expressed confidence in his ability to bounce back, stating, “Just getting that dialed back in, and I’m more than confident it’ll rebound right out of it really nicely.”

Manager Carlos Mendoza echoed Tong’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of throwing strikes. He noted that Tong’s struggles to get ahead in counts were pivotal to his performance. “Having a hard time throwing strikes, that’s where it starts,” Mendoza said. “His ability to get strike one was below average today. And then deep counts, three-ball counts. Again, we don’t make a couple of plays behind him and it cost him. But I think it’s just like I said before the game, his ability to compete in the strike zone, and right now he’s not doing it.”

Tong threw a total of 83 pitches during the game, with only 54 finding the strike zone. His fastball, used 35 times, generated just three whiffs on 16 swings and four called strikes. The young pitcher also had to navigate around two errors in the third inning by Marcus Semien and Mark Vientos, which forced him to expend 27 pitches in that frame alone.

Reflecting on the challenges of that inning, Tong emphasized the importance of mental composure. “You just got to calm yourself down after that,” he said. “There’s a lot of pitches thrown a couple times throughout that inning, just got to find a way to settle down after. Just got to find a way. Right, at the end of the day, that’s out of my control in a lot of cases and that’s the reality we’re in, so I got to find a way.”

One of the key moments in Tong’s outing was the home run pitch to Pereda, which he threw as a cutter—a pitch he has been integrating into his repertoire this season. Acknowledging the need for improvement, he stated, “Part of it is just gonna be you’re gonna have some really good ones and you’re just gonna have one that gets away from you. And unfortunately, that had to be that one. But again, I have to do a better job with that pitch. That’s plain and simple there.”

As the Mets look ahead, Tong’s role as a bulk pitcher after an opener remains uncertain. Improvement will be crucial if he is to earn another opportunity. Meanwhile, the team will aim to avoid a sweep in their next matchup against the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.