Jonah Tong needed just one game to win over the hearts of millions of New Yorkers. But fans believe one former New York Mets star may not be as thrilled by Tong’s success.
The 22-year-old rookie was the talk of the town on Friday after he mesmerized the Citi Field crowd in Queens, N.Y. The Canadian-born right-hander allowed just one earned run across five innings of work in a 19-9 drubbing of the Miami Marlins.
On top of having the perfect walk-up song, Tong showed off his wicked stuff to strike out six batters. His overhead arm angle had some seeing shades of two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.
Jonah Tong's Mechanics. pic.twitter.com/GDQjm7N7s4
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 29, 2025
Tong’s Mets teammates rewarded him with some stellar run support. New York scored 12 of its 19 runs over the first two innings. The game’s result was all but decided early on, which took some pressure off Tong the rest of the way.
Several Mets fans joked that Tong got more run support through two innings than Jacob deGrom did his entire Mets career. The Mets infamously gave deGrom next to no run support while he posted an absurd 2.52 ERA across nine seasons with the team.
Here’s a wild stat, Jonah Tong has received more run support in two innings than Jacob DeGrom did on his entire Mets career. Unverified
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) August 30, 2025
Runs scored for Jacob deGrom over his first 9 seasons: 8
— Phill (@MeekPhill_) August 30, 2025
Runs scored for Jonah Tong in the first two innings of his major league debut: 12
Jonah Tong with more run support in two innings than Jacob deGrom got his entire Mets career.
— Casey Stern (@CaseyStern) August 30, 2025
DYK? The Mets have provided Jonah Tong with more run support today than Jacob DeGrom received from 2014-2022.
— Jerry Beach (@JerryBeach73) August 29, 2025
Like Tong, deGrom also allowed just one earned run and had six strikeouts in his MLB debut for the Mets back in 2014. deGrom even lasted two more innings than Tong and did his damage against the crosstown rival New York Yankees.
However, the difference is that the Mets did not plate a single run in deGrom’s MLB debut. He was charged with a loss in the 1-0 Mets defeat. Tong got more run support in Friday’s first two innings (12) than deGrom did over his first four starts (11).
Nobody would blame deGrom if he actually was a little salty.
