How Jonah Tong’s New Changeup Grip Helped Put Mets RHP On Path To Potential Stardom
Image credit: Jonah Tong (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
One of the more notable pop-up prospects of 2024, Mets righthander Jonah Tong set out to take his game to the next level heading into 2025.
However, after riding a four-seam fastball with heavy ride-cut to success in the lower levels, Tong’s lack of a potent secondary pitch was a lingering question on his profile. He had tinkered with different variations of his changeup before, but working to find a better grip that played off of his high IVB fastball had proven to be a case of trial and error.
Then, one day, he landed a new grip that proved to be a breakthrough.
“We tried a splitter,” Tong told Baseball America. “I didn’t love how it felt. So I asked if we could get something closer to a Vulcan grip.”
The Mets suggested Tong try a Vulcan grip on the horseshoe, spreading his middle finger and ring finger to grip each seam. Here’s how he grips it:
With data available on the pitch, Tong was able to start trying to refine it during the offseason. He went to a development camp in November where he played around with the new grip in bullpens.
But it was throwing the pitch in the offseason with his dad that Tong started to notice how it was moving differently. Already comfortable with a Vulcan grip, there was something about how the pitch looked off his fastball that gave Tong confidence he had really landed on something.
Over the offseason, Tong kept working with the pitch. Not concerning himself with the data, he instead focused on intent off the fastball and letting the pitch play naturally. When he showed up for another offseason camp in January, he noticed numbers on the pitch had changed.
“The IVB dropped, and we’re now more consistently in single digits vs. some at 14 (IVB), some at 16 (IVB) and some at 17,” Tong said.
Getting into the single digits consistently allowed Tong to stretch the separation of vertical movement and plane between his four-seam fastball and changeup, changing eye levels more naturally.
So far, the numbers back Tong’s grip adjustment. He’s also found more velocity across his arsenal, adding more than a tick on his four-seamer to go with a changeup that more consistently plays off of the fastball. The change in movement year over year is clear:
2024 Fastball & Changeup
| Pitch Type | Velocity | IVB | HB | VAA |
| Four-Seam | 92.7 | 20.1 | 2.7 | -4.77 |
| Changeup | 83.4 | 13.1 | 11 | -7.1 |
2025 Fastball & Changeup
| Pitch Type | Velocity | IVB | HB | VAA |
| Four-Seam | 94.5 | 19.1 | 2.3 | -5.2 |
| Changeup | 84.6 | 8.3 | 14.1 | -7.5 |
Tong not only killed lift and vertical break on the pitch but also added three inches of armside run, allowing the changeup to play even more off his heavy cut-ride fastball.
Tong’s changeup evolution has sparked an incredible first two months. Through seven starts, he has a 2.12 ERA, 1.80 FIP, 1.00 WHIP and an eye-popping 43.4% strikeout rate. His in-zone whiff rate against the changeup has climbed from 17% last year to 54% in 2025—a significant improvement in how hitters are reacting to his offspeed stuff.
Armed with an improved changeup and feel for his entire arsenal, Tong is turning a corner towards potential stardom and becoming one of the top pitching prospects for not only the Mets, but all of baseball.
