Mets prospect Jonah Tong’s atrocious Triple-A stat line is hard to look at

The New York Mets have been struggling all throughout the 2026 season; despite going 7-3 over their past 10 games, they remain at the bottom of the NL East standings with an 18-25 record. It does not help matters at all that a few of the Mets' highly-touted young prospects aren't doing so well either in the minor leagues.The Mets' top pitching prospect, Jonah Tong, has not performed very well this season in Triple-A. It became evident in 2025 that he needed more time to marinate in the minors after he recorded a horrible ERA of 7.71 across five starts in the big leagues (18.2 innings), but it looks like he's going to need more than just that.On Thursday night, Tong struggled mightily in his start for the Syracuse Mets. Facing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Tong's start just lasted 1.2 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) during his time on the mound in what ended up being an 11-3 loss for the Mets, as pointed out by SNY.Tong entered the night sporting an ERA of 4.46 in eight starts thus far in Triple-A, and this nightmare of a start pulled his ERA all the way up to 5.68. His stuff is clearly still there, but the execution of the pitches has been sorely lacking, and the Mets are going to have to keep him in the minors for quite some time as he tries to right the ship.Tong, of course, is only 22 years of age. He has plenty of time to figure it out. But it is definitely a concern for the Mets that someone who's purportedly close to being ready to contribute for the big-league squad looks to be this far away from making his mark.Mets fans have to remember that Tong put up an ERA of 1.43 in 22 starts for Syracuse in 2025. His current performances may be panic-inducing, but the talent is evidently there.The New York Mets have been struggling all throughout the 2026 season; despite going 7-3 over their past 10 games, they remain at the bottom of the NL East standings with an 18-25 record. It does not help matters at all that a few of the Mets' highly-touted young prospects aren't doing so well either in the minor leagues.