NEW YORK — After hitting a two-run shot for the New York Mets, Jared Young was reminded it was his first major league homer in 613 days.
“Felt that long, yeah,” he said. “It’s the best league in the world, so you’ve got to play your best to be here and have success here. But I’m glad to be back, and that one felt good.”
Called up from the minors after spending part of last season in South Korea, the 29-year-old from Canada helped power the Mets to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Young gave New York a 4-2 lead in the first inning with a drive over the right-field fence that marked his third career longball and first in the big leagues since Sept. 22, 2023, for the Chicago Cubs against Colorado.
He also delivered a well-struck double to right-center that set up Jeff McNeil’s sacrifice fly in the third, giving Young multiple extra-base hits for the first time in his 26 major league games.
“He looked great. He’s been having really good at-bats and I felt like tonight you really got to see what he’s able to do,” said Mets slugger Pete Alonso, who launched a two-run homer of his own two batters before Young connected.
“He’s a great guy to have. Not only is he a great performer but I mean, the couple days that he’s been here, he’s been a really good teammate. So, he’s been a treat to have so far.”
With designated hitter Jesse Winker (also a left-handed batter) on the injured list, the Mets brought up Young from Triple-A Syracuse to face a string of right-handed starters over the past few days.
He’s started four games in a row and impressed manager Carlos Mendoza with the way he controls the strike zone — but Young’s home run was his first hit for New York.
“Look, he’s getting an opportunity,” Mendoza said. “He’s back in the big leagues after a lot of grinding. Whether it’s minor leagues, up and down, going overseas, he’s getting an opportunity back here in the States, and here we are giving him a chance and he’s taking advantage of it. Like I said, I like the at-bats and it was good to see him get some results today.”
Young played at small schools in Oklahoma (Connors State College) and North Dakota (Minot State University) before getting selected by the Cubs in the 15th round of the 2017 amateur draft from Old Dominion in Virginia.
He made his major league debut with Chicago in September 2022 and got 47 plate appearances in 2023. Young was then claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals and played 74 games at Triple-A Memphis last year before getting released on July 30.
So he signed with the Doosan Bears in South Korea and batted .326 with 10 homers and 39 RBIs over 38 games in the KBO — where he was teammates with Mets left-hander Brandon Waddell, another international success story.
New York signed Young last December and sent him to Syracuse, where he began the season on the injured list.
But once he got healthy, he pounded Triple-A pitching, batting .259 with a .393 on-base percentage and .533 slugging percentage. He had five homers, five doubles, 21 RBIs and 12 walks in 22 games before being called up.
“You believe in yourself and you believe in the player that you are, I feel like it takes care of a lot of things,” Young said. “There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs in kind of any career — I don’t care if it’s playing baseball, or doing anything. But I think when you believe in yourself you can get to where you want to get.”
Asked how he’s been feeling at the plate in the majors, Young said: “Pretty comfortable.”
“Trying to keep things as similar as possible to all the baseball you’ve played, whether in the minors or the big leagues, wherever you are,” he explained. “You know, just put good at-bats and be a tough out.”
He certainly was, hitting sixth in a dangerous Mets lineup that features some of baseball’s biggest stars in Alonso, Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor.
“It’s awesome. It’s great,” Young said. “You take a look at this team from the top down, I mean, pretty good ballplayers and winning a lot of games. So, to get thrown into it, I feel like I belong and I feel like it’s a good spot and a good fit, and hope we can just keep winning some ballgames.”
