Morning Briefing: Tong, McLean Now Both in Mets' Rotation

Good morning, Mets fans!

Per Will Sammon of The Athletic, the moment we have all been waiting for is here. The Mets are reportedly calling up pitching prospect Jonah Tong. He is expected to make his MLB debut on Friday against the Marlins. The right-handed pitcher has a 1.43 ERA across 113 2/3 innings with 179 strikeouts between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse this season.

The Mets and Phillies wrap their three-game series on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET. It will be Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.44 ERA, 70 SO) on the hill for the Phillies against Nolan McLean (2-0, 1.46 ERA, 15 SO) making his third big league start and looking to keep his momentum going. The Mets look to finish off a sweep.

Jonah Tong

NL Standings Update

The Mets pulled off a back-and-forth 6-5 win over the Phillies to take the second game of the series on Tuesday. With the win, and with the Reds losing 6-3 to the Dodgers, the Mets move to 3.5 games ahead in the race for the third Wild Card.

The Mets also sit 3.5 games behind the Padres for the second Wild Card.

With their two wins in the series against the Phillies thus far, they’ve moved from seven to five games behind first place.

Latest Mets News

According to Andy Martino of SNY, Francisco Lindor spent part of his day on Tuesday out in the community. He hosted a back-to-school backpack giveaway at P.S. 20 in Flushing, New York. He paid for all supplies and backpacks and gave out one personally to each child.

Per Laura Albanese of Newsday, Francisco Alvarez has begun throwing with a splint on his thumb and is adjusting to doing so. He said he feels no pain and is confident he can return this season if he continues to play pain-free. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday to test how the thumb is feeling in game action.

MLB revealed ESPN’s top 10 ranked farm systems with the best pitching prospects. Sitting at the top at No. 1 is the Mets.

MLB on Tuesday released the 2026 schedules for all 30 teams. The Mets will open the season on March 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field. Their schedule is highlighted by a big series against the Yankees from September 11-13 that will honor and pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Latest MLB News

Per Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Philadelphia Phillies released Joe Ross. They signed him for $4 million. Over the course of 51 innings pitched for the Phillies in 2025, he had a 5.12 ERA.

According to Evan Grant of Dallas Morning News, Nathan Eovaldi has a rotator cuff strain that will likely sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that according to sources, the Cleveland Guardians placed Carlos Santana on outright waivers.

FOX Sports MLB relayed MLB’s announcement that Willson Contreras of the St. Louis Cardinals received a six-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his actions during Monday night’s game. He will be appealing the suspension.