Jonah Tong has been one of the best pitchers in Minor League Baseball during the 2025 season, and that continued on Wednesday in the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies’ 11th straight win.
The 21-year-old Tong tossed five hitless innings in the Rumble Ponies’ 4-3 win over the Somerset Patriots in an 11:00 a.m. start. Tong walked three batters in the second inning, but he worked out of the jam by Antonio Gomez and Roc Riggio. Tong started the third inning by striking out two of the Yankees’ top prospects, George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones. The talented right-hander would retire the final 11 batters he faced for a sparkling pitching line:
5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 K, 87 pitches/55 strikes, 16 whiffs
Jonah Tong. Photo Credit: Matt Kipp
Hitters came into the game with a .151 average against Tong, which went down after going 0-for-16 on Wednesday. The terrific outing lowered Tong’s ERA to 2.02 in 10 starts for Double-A Binghamton on the season. He has struck out a whopping 83 batters in only 49 innings. The lone cause for concern has been the walks, with three more on Wednesday; Tong has issued 27 on the season.
It was the third time this season Tong has finished with double-digit strikeouts, including a career-high 13 on May 10 when he tossed 6 2/3 perfect innings. The former seventh-round pick has not allowed more than three runs in any of his starts this season and hasn’t allowed more than two in his last eight starts.
During the outing, Tong’s fastball was mostly 94-95 mph, and he used his changeup in any count to get a ton of whiffs.
After the impressive outing, Tong said he wasn’t feeling his best (because of a dairy drink before the game per Tong) on Wednesday after the game. “Body definitely didn’t feel great…but the guys did a great job behind me, so I can’t really ask for better results from them,” Tong said.
