The New York Mets promoted right-handed pitcher Jonah Tong from Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, while simultaneously releasing veteran closer Craig Kimbrel to make room on the roster.
Tong, who is 22 years old, holds the distinction of being the organization’s second-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The team brought him up just before beginning a three-game series against the Miami Marlins.
Selected by the Mets in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft, Tong made his major league debut during the previous season, where he compiled a 2-3 record with a 7.71 ERA across five starting assignments.
The organization may deploy the Canadian pitcher in a bulk relief role on Friday following Tobias Myers’ start in the opening game.
This season, Tong has been among the minor league leaders in strikeouts, entering Friday tied for sixth place with 55 strikeouts. Last season, he led all minor leaguers with 179 strikeouts. Through nine starts with Syracuse this year, he holds a 1-3 record and 5.68 ERA.
Meanwhile, Kimbrel, who will celebrate his 38th birthday on Thursday, struggled in his time with the Mets after signing a minor-league contract in January, posting a 6.00 ERA across 14 appearances.
The veteran reliever sits fifth on the all-time saves list with 440 career saves. During his peak years with the Atlanta Braves, he topped the National League in saves for four consecutive seasons beginning with his Rookie of the Year season in 2011.
Kimbrel achieved 39 saves with the San Diego Padres in 2015 and notched more than 30 saves in three consecutive campaigns with the Boston Red Sox from 2016-18, before his effectiveness began to wane.
Over the last seven seasons, he has played for seven different major league organizations. During the previous season, Kimbrel appeared in 42 minor league contests across the Braves, Texas Rangers and Houston Astros systems, while making only 14 major league appearances – 13 with Houston and one with Atlanta.
Throughout his career, Kimbrel has compiled a 56-50 record with a 2.65 ERA over 865 relief appearances.
