You can take Jonah Tong out of Canada, but you can’t take the Canada out of Jonah Tong.
The New York Mets rookie pitching phenom Tong made his MLB debut on Friday night against the Miami Marlins. Tong, 22, was just called up by the Mets earlier this week and ended up earning the start for Friday’s game against the Marlins at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y.
Before the start, Tong was warming up on the mound to a perfect song — Nickelback’s “Burn It To The Ground.”
Jonah Tong warms up to Nickelback's "Burn It to the Ground" 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/f0oOWCkdFe
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 29, 2025
Though not quite everyone’s cup of tea, Nickelback is one of the most famous bands from Canada. Tong was born in Markham, Ontario, Canada and has already earned the nickname of “The Canadian Cannon.”
The Mets have high hopes for Tong, who was their seventh-round pick during the 2022 MLB Draft and has since blossomed as a minor-league pitcher. At the time of his promotion, Tong was leading qualified minor-leaguers this season with a 1.43 ERA and 179 strikeouts (between Double-A Binghampton and Triple-A Syracuse). Tong also had an impressive moment back in May when he flirted with a perfect game.
It is unclear what exactly the Mets’ plan is for Tong this season as he is effectively their sixth starter right now. But they obviously want to get an early glimpse at what they have in their young righty hurler, and it looks like Tong is definitely passing the vibe check as well.
