In order to take stress off their bullpen, the New York Mets optioned prospect Jonah Tong to Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday. In a corresponding move, they have recalled righty Joey Gerber, as Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported.
The moves come after the club optioned Tobias Myers last week. The shakeup also comes as the Mets lost their last two games against the Seattle Mariners following a four-game winning streak.
Mets Option Jonah Tong
The Mets are in need of a fresh arm after using a combined 10 pitchers across their last two games. They are trying to refrain from using Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams more often because they have shined on the mound. Furthermore, veterans Sean Manaea and David Peterson have made the most out of their outings, as former starters that were later moved to the bullpen.
Therefore, moving Jonah Tong back to the minors was the next best option. In three appearances, the 22-year-old right-hander was used in a longer term role. He went more than 18 innings in five games in which he recorded 22 strikeouts. However, he did surrender 24 hits and 16 earned runs in his first stint back in the majors since last season. In his last outing, he surrendered four earned runs, five hits and two walks in three-plus innings. On the other hand, he spun three hitless stanzas in his season debut. His inconsistency to earn strikeouts led to his return to the minors for him to sharpen his skills.
In replacement of Jonah Tong, Gerber will return to the Mets. He made one appearance earlier this season where he retired five batters in two innings. Before coming to Queens, the 29-year-old righty held a career 3.27 ERA with 51 strikeouts after starting his career with the Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
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