The New York Mets organization has traditionally been hesitant to rush prospects to the majors, preferring development over immediate exposure. However, lately, the reliability of the rotation’s $150 million priced arms—Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea—is no longer assured.  After all, the Mets’ current rotation hasn’t given them much support.

Senga, currently at 7-5, has been struggling mightily in recent games. In the Mets’ 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals this week, he gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits. The right-hander has allowed a home run in each of his last six starts since the All-Star break. Over the same six starts, he has a 5.23 ERA, a 1.58 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts against 19 walks in 31 innings. As bad as it gets, he also hasn’t lasted six innings in any of these starts.

Sean Manaea has equally been the reason behind Mets’ rotation struggles. This month, he has held an ugly 7.91 ERA in 19.2 innings. It’s becoming Manaea’s pattern to pitch well in the initial innings before falling apart in the second half of the games. “I just lost feel for my sweeper right there and then just lost control of my fastball at the end there, too,” Manaea said after Thursday’s 3-9 loss to the Nats.

Ultimately, the Mets are turning to their 22-year-old prospect, Jonah Tong.

“The wind has shifted in the Mets organization in recent days regarding Jonah Tong. His name is entering the conversation for this season,” said the NY Post’s Mike Puma.

Tong made his second Triple-A start Saturday night and continued to impress the club. He tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts for Syracuse against Indianapolis.

David Stearns—president of baseball operations—also expressed that he’d rather open a rotation spot for a prospect to get several starts instead of just one start before being sent back to the minors.

Mets’ top prospect Jonah Tung sparking the call-up buzz after spectacular start

Jonah Tong’s rise through the Mets’ system keeps getting more and more impressive. Saturday night in Syracuse was just another example. In front of 7,144 attendees at NBT Bank Stadium, the 22-year-old right-handed phenom threw six scoreless innings.

He struck out eight to lead the Syracuse Mets to a 4-0 win over the Indianapolis Indians. Tong has yet to allow a run in more than 11 and two-thirds innings since he joined Triple-A. Thanks to the offense, which gave him early support on Saturday. Luke Ritter and Joey Meneses drew walks before Yonny Hernandez singled to load the bases.

Then, Ali Sanchez hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Ritter for a 1-0 lead. Sometime later, Luis De Los Santos lifted a sacrifice fly towards the right, bringing Meneses to the home plate from third base to make the score 2-0.

Hernandez singled, stole second, and came home on Sanchez’s RBI double to stretch the lead to 4-0 during the bottom of the sixth. From there, Syracuse bullpen took over and did the rest. It helped the Mets lock down the shutout victory.

This win also improved the club to 64-61 overall (33-17 in the second half), while Indianapolis dropped to 72-52 (30-20). Both of them will continue their series Sunday afternoon. The way Tong has been delivering in Triple-A, he is right on pace for the call-up to the majors.