Jonah Tong can’t explain the science behind his new devastating changeup’s action. But since adding the pitch to his arsenal, the results – 125 strikeouts in 78.2 innings at Double-A this year – for the Mets’ fast-rising prospect have science fiction to thank.
Standing in front of his locker at the MLB Futures Game in Atlanta on Saturday, Tong reached behind him to pick up a baseball to show exactly how the changeup had evolved.
“Originally, it was across the four-seam,” he said, stretching his middle and index fingers across the baseball. The new grip came to him when he saw a guy on Instagram demonstrate the “Vulcan” grip. “I’m like, ‘That looks sick, let me try it.'"
While he had some success with the grip, which gets its Star Trek-inspired name from mimicking the stretching of those middle two fingers like Spock, they noticed the pitch was getting too much vertical rise. At the suggestion of Mets vice president of pitching Eric Jagers, Tong rotated the ball in his hands to place the two stretched out fingers around the horseshoe of the baseball.
“I can’t tell you why, I’m sure they could do a way better job than me. But it just helps,” Tong said, pausing to look up and rotate his index finger in a circle. “Helped it lose some vert with it. We’re seeing great return with it and it’s been really fun to play around with.”
While the changeup has been a big part of Tong’s recent form this year, pitching to a 1.83 ERA and 0.928 WHIP through 15 starts, the right-hander said the mental side of the game has been the key.
“My first month of the year wasn’t amazing, it wasn’t bad by any means,” he said.
After getting through his first five starts, when he allowed nine runs (eight earned) on 16 hits over 21.1 innings, he sat down with his pitching coach and asked for help: What do I need to do? The answer was to keep it simple.
“Don’t let small things affect you and just go out there and have fun. It’s a kid’s game,” Tong said of the advice he received. “I feel like that’s really helped me realize how free and easy this game can be if you just take a minute to enjoy it.”
Opposition hitters haven’t found much enjoyment at all batting .116 with a .365 OPS and 87 strikeouts to 21 walks in 57.1 innings.
“Facing him is not very fun,” Carson Benge, fellow Mets prospect at the Futures Game, said on Saturday.
While the changeup has become his “most consistent strike pitch,” especially from an offspeed standpoint, Tong’s fastball, which he has said in the past is his “bread and butter” pitch, is still giving hitters trouble.
"I would like to attribute it to the shape… It’s interesting, it’s unique,” he said. “It's something I'm really comfortable throwing and confident. And I feel like if you’re confident, you’re gonna have a lot of success with it.”
While he may be one of the Mets’ fastest rising prospects, Tong is trying to keep the focus on the present instead of his big-league future.
“I try to catch myself, because my entire goal this year… was to just be where my feet are,” he said. “I think that when you start looking at the future, it’s awesome, but you can’t really control that. Big thing is just being in the moment, being present, and everything else will take care of itself.”
Benge glad to feel wind at his back
It is the common refrain from Mets left-handed hitting prospects after they reach Double-A Binghamton after spending time at High-A in Coney Island: The wind is gone.
Benge, the organization's No. 5 prospect per Joe DeMayo's rankings, is no different as he is batting .302 with a .956 OPS through 13 games after his recent promotion
“There wasn't too much of an adjustment, but getting out of Brooklyn with the wind always blowing in, that's been pretty nice,” he said Saturday. “Sticking with my same approach, it hasn’t led me wrong yet.”
Benge said at the plate he’s trying to stay the same hitter, but he feels he is “pulling the ball more” and “getting good contact to all [parts] of the field.”
And the results have been good through 73 games this year across both levels: 21 doubles, five triples, and six home runs with 44 RBI and a .302/.422/.485 slash line for a .907 OPS.
“Special hitter,” Tong said of Benge. “I’m just really lucky to be on the same team as him because I don’t know how I would feel facing him.”
The 22-year-old former two-way prospect said the adjustment to playing pro ball is about the routine of getting your body ready for the grind of a season.
“Keeping my body healthy enough to play every day would be the main thing, getting my recovery in,” he said. “Because in college ball it’s nice to do, but with 50-some games it wasn’t something you had to do. But with this long season, gotta stay on top of that.”
And switching to just being a position player, Benge said he finds it easier to just focus on one aspect of the game.
“I feel like it's definitely easier to grow when I'm just focused on hitting. Taking that strain off my body is big too, I feel like I'd be almost dead right now if I had to pitch.
He added: “I do miss pitching, it’s fun, a lot of fun. But I like [hitting] more.”
Benge has sights on continuing to climb the ladder and connecting with Mets prospect Nolan McLean, his former teammate at Oklahoma State, who is dazzling at Triple-A Syracuse
“Seeing him in college, you could tell there was something special about his arm, something special about how he goes about his business,” Benge said of Mclean. “Seeing him put in the work day in and day out, it’s really special to see it paying off.”
