HOUSTON (AP) Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday after sitting out since May 3 while he recovered from a fractured right hand.
Alvarez returns after playing four rehabilitation games for Double-A Corpus Christi, where he went 7 for 15 with four doubles, four RBIs and a stolen base.
He has been out more than 3 ½ months with the small fracture in his right hand that was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain.
His return should be a big boost to the Astros as the postseason approaches after he led the team in batting average (.308), home runs (35) and RBIs (86) last season. Houston entered Tuesday leading the AL West with a 1.5-game lead over Seattle.
The 28-year-old Alvarez hit .210 with three homers and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season before his injury.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is likely done for the season because of a rotator cuff strain.
Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations, made the announcement Tuesday, a day before Eovaldi's scheduled start against the Los Angeles Angels when he had another opportunity to take over as MLB's qualified ERA leader. He is 11-3 with a career-best 1.73 ERA in 22 starts.
Eovaldi has been one of baseball's best pitchers all season, but was left off the American League All-Star team and hasn't been among the qualified leaders after missing most of June because of elbow inflammation.
He was MLB's official ERA leader for one night, after he allowed one run in seven innings against Cleveland on Friday. That put him at 130 innings in 130 Rangers games, and put him ahead of All-Star starters Paul Skenes (2.07) and Tarik Skubal (2.28) until the Texas played the following day - pitchers need one inning per team game to qualify.
This is Eovaldi's third consecutive season with at least 11 wins since joining his home state team, and last December he signed a new $75 million, three-year contract through 2027. The 35-year-old Eovaldi and Hall of Fame strikeout king Nolan Ryan are the only big league players from Alvin, Texas.
Eovaldi has a 102-84 career record and 3.84 ERA over 14 big league seasons with six teams, and was of World Series championships with Boston in 2018 and Texas in 2023. He made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011-12), and later pitched for Miami (2012-14), the New York Yankees (2015-16), Tampa Bay (2018), Boston (2018-22).
NEW YORK — St. Louis pitcher Zeke Wood was suspended for 80 games and Houston catcher Emilio Gonzalez for 56 on Tuesday by Major League Baseball following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances under minor league drug programs.
Wood tested positive for GW1516 and was disciplined under the minor league drug program. Gonzalez tested positive for Boldenone and was penalized under the drug program for minor league players assigned outside of the United States and Canada.
A 25-year-old right-hander, Wood signed a minor league contract with St. Louis in June and had an 8.49 ERA in 12 relief appearances for Class A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria.
Gonzalez, 17, agreed to a minor league deal with the Astros in January for a $67,500 signing bonus and hit .209 with no homers and seven RBIs for the Dominican Summer League Astros. He has served two games and will finish the penalty during the 2026 DSL season.
Thirteen players have been suspended this year for positive tests, including 11 under minor league programs. Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games on March 31 and Philadelphia Phillies closer José Alvarado for 80 games on May 25 under the major league program.
The 2025-26 NHL regular-season is almost at hand, and here on THN.com's Buffalo Sabres site, we're breaking down the expectations for every Sabres player.
What are your expectations for Power this coming year? He's still just a kid at 22 years old, but as a No. 1-overall draft pick, the bar for him is higher than it is for most players. But we want to hear from you -- and you can make your opinion known by commenting below.
You can also register as a member of the Sabres community here at THN.com. Your voice has value, and we want your perspective.
SAN FRANCISCO — For Justin Verlander, the next month will be about big numbers.
He picked up win No. 264 on Tuesday, and while this disappointing Giants season has put a big dent in his hopes for 300, it’s still a number to chase. He also got to 3,520 career strikeouts, passing Walter Johnson and moving into ninth on the all-time list.
But Tuesday night was also about a first.
When Matt Chapman provided a cushion with a two-run homer and the bullpen cruised through the final three innings of a 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs, Verlander had his first career win at Oracle Park.
“No offense,” he said, smiling, “But I wish I had one in 2012.”
The Giants are glad he doesn’t, although they have a lot of regrets about the way they’ve handled Verlander’s 14 starts at home this year. They haven’t provided him with run support while also failing to hold his leads, but in recent days, the baseball has been cleaner. All of a sudden, everything is crisp.
On Tuesday, that led to a third win in four games over an NL Central club headed for the MLB playoffs. The Giants remain seven games back of the third wild-card spot with just 30 to play, but they at least feel like they’re on solid footing again.
“Look, I haven’t been here for that long, but the Giant way is good pitching and good defense and timely hitting,” Verlander said. “If that’s your motto, you’ve got to play clean. Do the little things the right way and good things happen. We’ve shown that we’re capable. We just need to kind of continue to do that and start to expect that from each other.
“There are smart fans here. They watch the game and you guys [in the media] watch the game and you see what the difference is when we play smart baseball and do things the right way.”
There hasn’t been much of that in the second half, especially at Oracle Park. But the Giants got an early homer from Wilmer Flores and Verlander contributed six strong innings. Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos sparked a game-swinging rally and the bullpen — now without closer Randy Rodriguez, too — had a good night.
Verlander had left six previous starts with the lead and watched it disappear, but those bad vibes didn’t seep into the dugout Tuesday. Manager Bob Melvin said he just had a feeling “we were going to finish it off for him.” He’s hopeful that this is the start of a strong final push.
“We went through a really bad stretch,” Melvin said. “Hopefully we’re getting on the other side of it.”
The Giants would need a miracle to return to the thick of the postseason race, but Verlander should get five or six more starts regardless. He’ll keep trying to tick wins off, and he’s just 14 strikeouts away from reaching eighth all-time.
Verlander said he has tried to be more present since having Tommy John surgery, and that includes having a greater awareness of what every night on the mound means. He’s well aware that the next guy after Johnson is a Hall of Famer who has a statue outside Oracle Park. Well, at least he is now.
Verlander smiled when asked if he knew who was eighth in strikeouts.
“Gaylord Perry,” he said. “Somebody just told me in the food room.”
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman surprised many in the 2022 NHL Drat when he chose German defenseman Moritz Seider with the sixth overall selection, but the pick has paid off in multiple ways.
Not only did Seider win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie in the 2021-22 NHL Season, but he's become Detroit's top defenseman and routinely plays heavy minutes against the opposition's best players.
Seider is also set to compete for his native Germany in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The German roster will also be chalk-full of talented players included Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stützle, and Lukas Reichel.
He and his countrymen hope to help their homeland make a name for itself in the upcoming tournament.
"I know we're a small country, but we want to challenge all the big names out there and just try to get better as a team, also as individuals," Seider said via NHL.com. "Honestly, you want to make a name for yourself overseas. Hopefully we have more and more people joining us and making it a little bit of a brand over there."
"I think it would be fun to have us all on one team eventually and show what we're capable of," Seider said. "It's a big credit to them in the first place. Overall, we want to make names for ourselves, be leaders on our own teams, and then if we have a chance to, then come together, and then it's even more fun coming here."
Seider already has considerable international experience, having captained Germany at the 2019 World Junior Championship Division IA tournament, and also played in the 2021 and 2023 IIHF World Championships.
Thanks to his natural leadership, Seider was named Germany's captain during the recent 2025 IIHF World Championship, helping them to a medal round appearance.
Unser Kapitäns-Team für die WM 🔥
Moritz Seider wird die deutsche Männer-Nationalmannschaft 🇩🇪 bei der bevorstehenden IIHF-Weltmeisterschaft in Dänemark & Schweden anführen. An seiner Seite: Jonas Müller, Marc Michaelis und Dominik Kahun als Assistenten 💪🏻 #debteamspic.twitter.com/YkBBNbZFE8
— Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (@deb_teams) May 4, 2025
During his time in the NHL, Seider has already climbed the list to become fourth in all-time games played by a German-born defenseman with 328. He's also demonstrated incredible durability, having not missed a single game in each of his first four seasons.
The Red Wings consider Seider a building block for their franchise, and made that clear when he affixed his name to a seven-year, $59.85 million contract extension last September.
The NHL’s 2025-26 season is only a handful of weeks away, and here at THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’ve started a player-by-player series that analyzes each Sabre this past season and their probable contributions next year.
Every Sabres member wants nothing more than a Stanley Cup playoff appearance, but as individual athletes, Buffalo’s players all have at least slightly different goals and expectations for ‘25-26. And with that in mind, after focusing Monday night on Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin, we’re moving to another key young blueliner for Buffalo – defenseman Owen Power.
Like Dahlin and every Sabres player, Power faces a huge amount of pressure to get this Sabres team into the playoffs. And while Power is a few years younger than Dahlin, Power needs to do his part and step up and help guide Buffalo to a playoff berth. And the good news is he has the skills to do that.
2025-26 Expectations: As someone drafted with the first-overall draft pick in 2021, Power has a high bar to clear when it comes to expectations on him. And while it would be unfair to suggest Power suffered a setback this past season, the 22-year-old did not have an ideal performance in many regards.
For one thing, Power’s time-on-ice average was cut by more than 90 seconds per game last season, going from an average of 22:55 in 2023-24 to 21:19 last season. That’s the second consecutive season Power’s average ice time was cut by at least one minute per game. And now, will Sabres coach Lindy Ruff cut Power’s minutes again? That seems counterproductive, but it would be the continuation of a two-year trend, so we’re not counting it out by any means.
Although Power did set new career-highs in goals (seven), assists (33) and points (40) last year, it wasn’t as if he blew his previous career-bests out of the water. For three years now, Power has put up between 27-33 assists per year, and between 33-40 points – not terrible numbers, but not numbers you’d associate with a No. 1-overall pick.
Also impacting the judgment on Power is the fact he’s the second-highest-paid player on the Sabres’ roster at $8.35-million per-season. Power is in Year 2 of a seven-year contract, and his pay rate means he’s going to be held to a higher standard than most Buffalo players.
To be sure, Power’s offensive numbers should be higher, given his 1:36 of average power-play time last year. He may be the second banana to Dahlin on the back end, but that doesn’t mean Power has to trail Dahlin’s offensive stats by 28 points, the way he did last season. Dahlin is a special player, but Power was drafted also to be a special player, and he needs to deliver more than he’s delivered thus far.
Now, Power is nowhere close to his peak years, so that has to be taken into account when grading his performance. But as Buffalo attempts to end its 14-year playoff drought, every Sabres player needs to elevate their game, and that includes Power.
Arguably Buffalo’s strongest area is its defense corps, and Power is one of the key reasons why that is so. But Power has to do more – and maybe, do more with less – so his challenge is clear. He’s an integral component of the Sabres’ blueprint for success, but the pressure on Power is considerable, and it isn’t likely to subside anytime soon.
Ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns addressed several topics, including the starting rotation and the bats' return to form.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the consistent quality of stuff in the zone,” Stearns said. “And when you don’t have the consistent quality of stuff in the zone, you tend to nibble a little bit more, and I think that’s what we’ve seen.
“We’ve had some count control challenges. I think he’s done a really nice job of minimizing damage. We’ve had a lot of traffic in his starts, but he’s generally kept us in the game and competitive.”
In seven starts since the All-Star break, Senga has gone just 31 innings while pitching to a 6.10 ERA, allowing 24 runs (21 earned) on 32 hits (seven home runs) and 20 walks with 29 strikeouts.
“He’s frustrated and he doesn’t think he’s pitching at his best right now,” Stearns continued. “And so we’re gonna continue to work with him and continue to do our best to get him back to a good spot.”
The second time through the order has been a bugaboo for Manaea this year. In the first three innings this year (21 total frames), he’s allowed just six runs. In innings four through six (13.1 total), he’s allowed 11 runs.
“I still think we’re building up stamina,” Stearns said of the left-hander whose second season with the Mets was delayed until the final game of the season’s first half in July. “We’ve seen periods of dominance with Sean early in games and then it seems like whether it’s one walk or one hit by pitch and things can spiral a little bit.
“The good news is we are still seeing the pitcher that we saw last year. We are seeing the pitcher who is getting very uncomfortable swings on his fastball, lot of swing and miss on the fastball. His sweeper has still showed really well. He’d certainly like to get deeper into games. We’d like him to get deeper into games. And my expectation is as we go forward, we’ll see that.”
Overall, in seven starts, he has pitched to a 5.40 ERA (4.44 FIP), but he has 38 strikeouts to just eight walks in 33.1 innings.
Ryan Helsley’s adjustment period
Stearns felt that the closer turned set-up man who arrived in a deadline deal with St. Louis threw the ball better in Monday’s scoreless outing, but said that the club is trying to keep the veteran from pressing to find the results
“There’s an adjustment period coming to a new team, we’re asking him to take on a new role, that’s certainly been well documented,” he said. “When you don’t have results immediately, it's natural to press a little bit, and what we’re trying to do is help him exhale a little bit, take a deep breath.
“The stuff is still there. He’s been good in this league for a long time, and he’s gonna be good again.”
Aug 23, 2025; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; New York Mets left fielder Starling Marte (6) reacts after hitting a home run against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning at Truist Park. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
On Mets’ bats bringing the lumber
The results of late have been better with 71 runs scored in their last 10 games. The club's .316 average, .386 OPS, and .573 slugging percentage (.959 OPS) in the last 15 days are all tops in MLB during that span. And that is more in line with what Stearns and the organization expected.
“Throughout the entire season, we thought we had a good offensive team,” he said with a smile. “We’ve talked a lot about the challenges earlier in the season in leverage spots and runners in scoring position, men on base. And some of that was maybe at times we were pressing a little bit, getting a little bit too aggressive.
“But a lot of that was misfortune. And some really unfortunate batted ball luck and that’s tough to stomach for all of us. That’s not a satisfactory answer for any of us. But we did try to focus on what we can actually control: Are we swinging at the pitches we should swing at? When we do, are we putting them in play in ways that we want to put them in play?”
Stearns added that for most, but not all, of the stretches when they were having trouble scoring runs, the club was sticking to that plan, but there were times “when we expand [the zone] too much, we were pressing.”
“But, especially early in the season when we were having offensive challenges, our approach was pretty good,” he said. “We weren’t getting the results, and sometimes that can steamroll on you. But it can also steamroll on you the other way now, and hopefully we get on that run.”
Why Mets went with Tong over Brandon Sproat
When Stearns spoke about potentially calling up some of the Mets’ top pitching prospects for their big league debuts down the stretch, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat were the two most likely candidates. After Jonah Tong was handed a surprise call-up to join McLean in Flushing, the question of why not Sproat was asked.
Despite Sproat doing a “tremendous job” at Triple-A and “probably had as good a second-half a season as any pitcher in minor league baseball,” Stearns said it was more to do with Tong’s domination and timing.
“We talked about Brandon a lot, and this was really just what Jonah has accomplished, plus the timing of this, lining up, keeping [Tong] on turn, on his normal rest progression, and taking the start on Friday,” he said. “But we think Brandon’s got a really bright future and we’re excited about it.”
The Buffalo Sabres announced details for a single-game ticket presale beginning Tuesday, and that individual game tickets will go on sale to the public next Tuesday, September 3rd. The club also announced 17 theme nights for the 2025-26 regular season, beginning with the home opener against the New York Rangers on Thursday, October 9th.
More than half the theme nights will feature giveaways, such as a rally towel for the opener, a Sabretooth Beanie Hat for the game against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday, October 18th, a Sabres butter dish for the Sunday pre-Thanksgiving contest against the Carolina Hurricanes, a Rasmus Dahlin pin for the February 5th game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a Tage Thompson bobblehead for Fan Appreciation night against Dallas on Wednesday, April 15. The club will also be wearing their red, black, and white “goat’s head” jersey for a significant portion of their 41 home games, which will be announced before the season.
The National Hockey League Players’ Association and Upper Deck will host the 15th annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia, with over 30 NHL prospects and rookies scheduled to attend, one of which will be Sabres prospect Konsta Helenius.
The 19-year-old was named to the AHL All-Rookie team after scoring 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in his first season in North America, after being selected 14th overall at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. Other players attending will be 2025 top overall pick Matthew Schaefer of the NY Islanders, and Team USA World Junior gold medal winners Zeev Buium(MIN), Ryan Leonard (WAS) Gabe Perreault (NYR), and Jimmy Snuggerud (STL).
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo
Cleveland Cavaliers wing Max Strus — who started all nine playoff games for the team last season and will have a key role in the rotation — will miss the first few months of the NBA season after undergoing foot surgery, the team has announced.
A Jones fracture involves the fifth metatarsal, the bone that connects the little toe up to the base of the foot near the ankle, with the fracture higher up on the bone. It's a relatively common injury in basketball, but healing times can vary because the affected area is not part of the body that has strong blood flow.
The timeline provided by the Cavaliers would have Strus missing at least the first 20 games of the NBA season — past Thanksgiving and into December — and that number could very well climb up closer to 30 or higher.
Strus averaged 9.4 points and 4.3 rebounds a game last season, shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc. He started all nine playoff games for the Cavaliers and averaged 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a night in the postseason. Look for De'Andre Hunter to be the starter at the three with Strus out.
It's possible the Cavaliers could jump into the free agent market for a wing to fill minutes with Strus out. However, the Cavaliers have the highest payroll in the league and are already well over the second apron of the luxury tax, meaning they can only offer a minimum contract and would be subject to a steep tax bill for any additional players signed. The Cavaliers reportedly have shown some interest in Malik Beasley, who finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season and remains available, but that signing seems unlikely (Beasley is no longer the target of a federal gambling investigation, however, he is still a subject tied to the investigation and it is possible he could face a charges in the case).
SAN FRANCISCO — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made waves earlier this month when he mentioned the possibility of expansion teams leading to realignment. If it happens, the Giants might want to petition the league to join the NL Central.
After taking two of three from the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, they returned home and beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2. Both Central teams are headed for the MLB playoffs, but the Giants have had their number this season. Tuesday’s win moved them to 8-3 against the Brewers and Cubs.
Verlander didn’t hide his displeasure after last week’s loss at Petco Park. The defense let him down, but he also failed to limit the damage, allowing seven earned runs.
On Tuesday, Verlander completed six innings for just the second time in the second half. He scattered seven hits and gave up two earned on two walks and five strikeouts. The first strikeout moved him past Walter Johnson on the all-time MLB list, and he’s now just 14 away from catching Giants Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry and moving into eighth all-time. Verlander would need 40 after that to catch Don Sutton, and it looks like he’ll take a shot at it this season.
Justin Verlander passes Walter Johnson for No. 9 on the MLB all-time strikeouts leaderboard 👏 pic.twitter.com/W56NCMzCXY
The 42-year-old threw 101 pitches on Tuesday night, reaching triple-digits for the third time in five August starts. He was still touching 95 mph in the fifth inning.
Matos Mania
Verlander was in line for a win thanks to Luis Matos, who has taken off since getting an everyday role. He returned from Triple-A last Thursday and went 8-for-15 on the rest of the road trip with two homers, two doubles and a triple, and his hot streak continued back home.
Matos thought he homered again in his first at-bat Tuesday, but his 381-foot drive was caught on the track in left-center. With the Giants trailing in the bottom of the fifth, he went the other way for a double off the bricks. Heliot Ramos brought him home with a two-out double and then scored the go-ahead run on Rafael Devers’ single.
The final 31 games are an open audition of sorts for 2026 bullpen spots. Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval are gone and Randy Rodriguez and Erik Miller both seem unlikely to pitch again this season because of elbow injuries. Rodriguez went on the IL on Tuesday with a right elbow sprain and likely will seek a second opinion as he figures out next steps.
Joey Lucchesi took the seventh and then retired lefty Pete Crow-Armstrong in the top of the eighth. He handed the baton to trade deadline acquisition Jose Butto, who breezed through the rest of the inning.
Ryan Walker opened the season as the closer and returned to that role when Rodriguez’s elbow started barking. He worked around a one-out single in the ninth and picked up his 12th save.
SAN FRANCISCO — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made waves earlier this month when he mentioned the possibility of expansion teams leading to realignment. If it happens, the Giants might want to petition the league to join the NL Central.
After taking two of three from the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, they returned home and beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2. Both Central teams are headed for the MLB playoffs, but the Giants have had their number this season. Tuesday’s win moved them to 8-3 against the Brewers and Cubs.
Verlander didn’t hide his displeasure after last week’s loss at Petco Park. The defense let him down, but he also failed to limit the damage, allowing seven earned runs.
On Tuesday, Verlander completed six innings for just the second time in the second half. He scattered seven hits and gave up two earned on two walks and five strikeouts. The first strikeout moved him past Walter Johnson on the all-time MLB list, and he’s now just 14 away from catching Giants Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry and moving into eighth all-time. Verlander would need 40 after that to catch Don Sutton, and it looks like he’ll take a shot at it this season.
Justin Verlander passes Walter Johnson for No. 9 on the MLB all-time strikeouts leaderboard 👏 pic.twitter.com/W56NCMzCXY
The 42-year-old threw 101 pitches on Tuesday night, reaching triple-digits for the third time in five August starts. He was still touching 95 mph in the fifth inning.
Matos Mania
Verlander was in line for a win thanks to Luis Matos, who has taken off since getting an everyday role. He returned from Triple-A last Thursday and went 8-for-15 on the rest of the road trip with two homers, two doubles and a triple, and his hot streak continued back home.
Matos thought he homered again in his first at-bat Tuesday, but his 381-foot drive was caught on the track in left-center. With the Giants trailing in the bottom of the fifth, he went the other way for a double off the bricks. Heliot Ramos brought him home with a two-out double and then scored the go-ahead run on Rafael Devers’ single.
The final 31 games are an open audition of sorts for 2026 bullpen spots. Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval are gone and Randy Rodriguez and Erik Miller both seem unlikely to pitch again this season because of elbow injuries. Rodriguez went on the IL on Tuesday with a right elbow sprain and likely will seek a second opinion as he figures out next steps.
Joey Lucchesi took the seventh and then retired lefty Pete Crow-Armstrong in the top of the eighth. He handed the baton to trade deadline acquisition Jose Butto, who breezed through the rest of the inning.
Ryan Walker opened the season as the closer and returned to that role when Rodriguez’s elbow started barking. He worked around a one-out single in the ninth and picked up his 12th save.
Penalties did for both Leeds and Celtic, with Kairat Almaty beating the Scots 3-2 after a drab goalless draw, and Leeds beaten 3-0 by Sheffield Wednesday
Joe Pearson has filed a half-time match report: “As a retired football fan in central Indiana, I always enjoy the opportunity to watch an early afternoon weekday match,” he enthuses. “But. This match is dire. I feel I have made a bad life choice.”
Still no sign of a goal in this tie, but the two teams now have 15 minutes to come up with a plan to create one.
David Stearns had to state the obvious in discussing the Mets’ decision to promote 22-year-old Jonah Tong for his MLB debut just two weeks after promoting him to Triple-A.
“This is fast, there’s no question, this is fast,” the Mets’ president of baseball operations said Tuesday.
“He’s pushed us on this because of his performance,” Stearns continued. “We think he’s ready for this. We also acknowledged that this has gone faster than any of us would have anticipated at the start of this year.”
Across 22 minor league starts, Tong has pitched to a 1.43 ERA and 0.924 WHIP, surrendering just 20 runs (18 earned) on 58 hits and 47 walks over 113.2 innings while striking out 179 batters. A 14.2 strikeout per nine-inning rate. Now, he is expected to make his next start Friday night in Queens against the Miami Marlins.
And it speaks to how highly the Mets organization thinks of the young right-hander that the rationale is just this: In a tight wild card race, you need to have your best players on the roster at the business end of the season.
“As you roll into the last month of the season, you want to have the best roster you possibly can,” Stearns said. “And we think Jonah has the chance to be among that. He’s earned the opportunity. And so we’re gonna give him the start and look forward to seeing how it goes.”
In his two outings with Syracuse, he tallied 39 whiffs on 91 swings (43 percent) with a 39 percent called strike-whiff rate.
So how did the Mets end up here, with Tong going from pitching in the MLB Futures Game while at Double-A to getting promoted twice in the span of 45 days?
“Combination of where a player is development-wise and then opportunity,” Stearns said. "And this went fast for Jonah. But to his credit, he really conquered everything we put in front of him. He exceeded our expectations throughout this year, and he put himself in a position where he deserved to be considered for a day like this.”
On the first part, the development of the right-hander’s stuff this season has been something that has left the team pleasantly surprised and quite excited.
“He’s obviously got the fastball that plays, and that’s been his calling card throughout his time in the minor leagues,” Stearns said of the heater, which averages around 96 mph and touched 98 mph at Triple-A. “What’s impressed us the most is the speed with which he’s expanded his arsenal in a really effective way. He’s added a changeup this year that’s been really good.
“And we’ve seen outings that have shown tremendous maturity on the mound where something’s not working and he’s able to switch an approach, go to the slider more, throw a few more curveballs. And allow himself to get through outings really successfully even if he’s not following the exact plan that he thought he was gonna follow when he went into the game.”
Stearns pointed to Tong’s two Triple-A outings in which he's pitched 11.2 scoreless innings, allowing eight hits and three walks with 17 strikeouts. “He’s had success in two straight starts in different ways, and that’s encouraging to see,” he said.
But in order to get that chance, opportunity must knock. And Stearns first laid out the possibility of giving some of the club’s top minor league arm talent opportunities down the stretch after the All-Star break, but it was seen thatNolan McLean and Brandon Sporat were the most likely candidates, as both had Triple-A experience and were seen as closer to being big league ready. McLean, who was called up on August 16 for his MLB debut, has made two fine starts and seems to have found himself as the Mets’ fifth starter. With New York looking for a sixth man, which should be a boost for Kodai Senga and Clay Holmes, coupled with Tong’s domination at Syracuse, the decision seemed to be made for them.
“Then ultimately, as we got into planning this week and planning the next series out, it lined up well for him,” Stearns said. “He’s gonna be on normal term, he’s throwing the ball well in two starts in Triple-A, and we’re comfortable giving him the ball.”
And, like with McLean, the Mets are going to go “turn by turn” with the rotation for the time being.
“It’s gonna be a combination of what the matchups are, who we think matchup well, how are guys are throwing, who we think needs rest, who doesn’t need rest,” Stearns said. “I think in September, we try not to plan too far ahead.”
