New York

Mets

Tong will get the promotion to face the Fish in his first MLB outing since June 3. The talented right-hander has pitched well in the minors as of late, but doesn’t have much MLB success. It would be a high-risk, medium-high reward to use him in fantasy for this outing.

Not much came easy for McLean in this one after the first couple of innings despite a solid final line. By the time he took the mound for the top of the third, the Mets had taken a 7-0 lead and things suddenly got a bit hairy. Over the next three frames, he walked three batters, gave up six hits, and was fortunate to only have two runs on his ledger. Then, he surprisingly came back out for the sixth inning already at 94 pitches despite those struggles and ended his outing with three quick outs. When he struck out Christian Koss to end his night, McLean let out a massive roar to his dugout. In the end, he tossed a career-high 105 pitches, has completed at least six innings in 13 of his last 14 starts, and left this start with a 3.06 ERA as he makes a late season charge for the Rookie of the Year award. He’s scheduled to face the Marlins in Miami next time out, but could be pushed back to face the Yankees in the Bronx as the Mets are potentially moving some parts around in their rotation.

Alvarez needed a game like this as he’s been mired in a dreadful slump. He’d gone nearly a month without a home run before these two and had just four since the All-Star break with a paltry .187 batting average and strikeout rate that was approaching 40%. He could really use a strong end of the season to build some positive momentum heading into 2027.

He’s sitting against LHP Tugboat Wilkinson. When the Mets lost Luis Robert Jr. on waivers the assumption was that Ewing’s playing time would be safe, but Nick Morabito is manning center field for the platoon advantage. Since the start of August, Ewing is hitting .168/.242/.212 with no homers and eight stolen bases.

The Mets needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster after claiming Cameron Weston off of waivers from the Orioles on Thursday and Ross wound up on the outside looking in. The 26-year-old backstop could pass through waivers unclaimed and continue to function as extra depth for the Mets at Triple-A Syracuse.

The 26-year-old has one scoreless inning at the bigs this year and an unsightly 7.89 ERA in 31 appearances (seven starts) for Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll try to turn it around in a new organization.

Morabito was called back up this week after the Mets waived Luis Robert Jr. and he finally notched his first career hit. He spent a few days up the the club early this season, but didn’t break through until his three-run double here which gave the Mets some valuable insurance. He’ll likely be operating more as their fourth outfielder, but is a pesky hitter who has the speed to steal bases should he get the opportunities to do so.

Working in an abbreviated role, Hagenman was solid for three innings. He threw way more four seam fastballs than in his last few times out with the big league club, but that pitch was a bit erratic. Instead, his cutter and changeup were each effective and more than enough to get through this Rays lineup one and a half times. We’re not sure what his role will be the next time around the Mets rotation.

Tong was hit extremely hard in three starts for the Mets last year, but has always been able to miss bats at a rate that forces fantasy managers to pay attention. The 23-year-old prospect has put together a handful of encouraging starts at Triple-A Syracuse recently, allowing just two runs with a 23/10 K/BB ratio across 21 1/3 innings since August 11. It seems like a no-brainer for the Mets to give him a look down the home stretch with their playoff hopes basically nonexistent. It’s challenging to recommend Tong in shallow fantasy leagues given his wide range of outcomes, but he offers enough strikeout upside that he’s worthy of a speculative stash in deeper formats.

Hagenman draws the starting assignment for Wednesday’s game against the Rays after missing the first five months of the season with a rib fracture. The 29-year-old compiled a respectable 4.56 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 23/2 K/BB ratio across 23 2/3 innings over nine appearances for the Mets last year.