Jonah Tong’s phone ringing meant Brandon Sproat’s did not.
The Mets are calling up Tong, a phenom rocketing through their system who made just two starts with Triple-A Syracuse, while leaving Sproat (at least for now) in Syracuse, with whom he has pitched in 25 games.
The decision was partly a result of Tong authoring arguably the best season in all of minor league baseball and partly a result of simple scheduling.
The Mets wanted to insert a sixth starter Friday against the Marlins, which would push David Peterson — whose ERA is 6.31 on four days of rest and 2.25 when given the extra day — back to Saturday and Kodai Senga (who flunked his lone four-days’-rest test Monday) back to Sunday.
Tong most recently pitched Saturday and is set up to pitch on his usual rest Friday.
Sproat has pitched twice consecutively on four days of rest as the Mets test the righty in other scenarios, and his pitching Friday would make it three times in a row, which the club did not want him to do.
So Sproat — who began this season as the top Mets pitching prospect but has been bypassed by Nolan McLean and Tong for a debut — remains in Syracuse, where a rough first half cost him but a strong second half has placed him back on the radar.
Through his first 15 starts, Sproat owned a 5.95 ERA with slipping velocity and a changeup he could not find.
The problems appear to have been solved by a new mindset — Sproat saying he decided to start throwing each pitch with maximum effort — and the hard-throwing righty has put together a 2.77 ERA with 61 strikeouts in his past 52 innings.
“Brandon’s done a tremendous job, I think,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said Tuesday before the Mets beat the Phillies. “He’s probably had as good a second half a season as any pitcher in minor league baseball. He’s made some real adjustments. He’s pitched great.”
He pitched poorly as a bulk starter Monday, used behind an opener for the first time all season.
Carlos Mendoza said the Mets were not considering Sproat out of the bullpen but trying to give Sproat the experience of pitching behind an opener — an experience many of their minor league starters have received this season.
“I think this has got nothing to do with Sproat,” the manager said of the decision to bring up Tong. “I think it’s just more how dominant Jonah has been.”
Sean Manaea took a step in the right direction — but a small one.
The lefty struck out eight and was charged with two runs, but lasted just 4 ²/₃ innings because of a pitch count (90) that kept climbing and at-bats that did not end quickly enough.
Manaea has made nine starts after spending the first half of the season on the injured list and hasn’t lasted more than 5 ²/₃ innings in any of them.
“I feel like I’ve been in good counts, just not putting guys away,” Manaea said after he was strong for four frames before running into trouble in the fifth, when Gregory Soto entered and allowed two inherited runners to score. “I don’t know if it’s a mixing issue, fastball just not getting to the top of the zone, a lot of foul balls.
“I don’t really know what the fix is.”
Stearns on trade-deadline addition Ryan Helsley, who pitched a scoreless inning Monday but had allowed 12 runs (eight earned) in his first 7 ¹/₃ innings with his new club:
“There’s an adjustment period coming to a new team or asking him to take on a new role. That’s certainly been well documented. When you don’t have results immediately, it’s natural to press a little bit.
“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.”
Helsley gave up a game-tying two-run home run to Harrison Bader in the eighth inning Tuesday before the Mets prevailed 6-5.
Tylor Megill is expected to make a fourth rehab start Wednesday with Syracuse.
The righty, recovering from an elbow sprain, most recently threw 65 pitches over five innings Friday.
The Mets will open the next season at Citi Field on March 26, against the Pirates.
One schedule highlight: A three-game series in The Bronx that begins Sept. 11 to commemorate the 25-year anniversary of the attacks.
— Additional reporting by Peter Botte
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
