Canada’s Jonah Tong is going to the show.
The New York Mets promoted the starting pitcher from triple-A on Tuesday, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Tong will make his first start on Friday against the Miami Marlins, where he could face fellow Canadian Liam Hicks.
With the Mets in a stretch of 16 games without a day off, they want to insert a sixth starter next time through the rotation to give the regular members an extra day of rest.
Tong, 22, is the fourth-ranked prospect in the Mets system, per MLB.com.
After spending most of this season at double-A, the Markham, Ont., native was recently bumped up a level, where he pitched 11.2 scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts over two starts.
At double-A, Tong posted a 1.59 ERA over 20 starts while fanning 162 opponents.
“I think it’s all about him dominating the minor leagues,” Mendoza said when asked about the timing of the call-up. “You could make a case, ‘Alright, it double-A, you want to give him a better look at the triple-A level,’ but, man, a couple of outings and it’s hard to keep him there. So here he is now.”
Tong was originally selected by the Mets in the seventh round of the 2022 draft out of Bill Crothers Secondary School.
The decision comes soon after the Mets brought up touted pitcher Nolan McLean from Syracuse to make his debut Aug. 16 against Seattle.
With the team starved for length and dependability from any starter besides David Peterson, the 24-year-old McLean has delivered, going 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings over two big league starts.
He’s set to make his third Wednesday night against Philadelphia, which held a six-game lead in the NL East over the Mets heading into the middle game of their series Tuesday night at Citi Field.
New York was 2 1/2 games ahead of Cincinnati for the final National League wild card.
— With files from the Associated Press