Megill Facing Familiar Fight for Fifth Spot

Tylor Megill made his spring debut Tuesday, touched 98 mph with his four-seam fastball, and gave up a run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings.

“Feel good,” he told reporters after his 47-pitch outing. “I don’t feel like I’m trying too much. Mechanics feel well. Body feels well. Ball is coming out well. So overall, feel good. Just get ready for the next one and go from there. Keep building up.”

Megill, who walked one and struck out two, is in an eerily identical situation to where he was last year, trying to win a rotation spot that opened up after an injury. Last season it was Kodai Senga who got hurt and the competition was José Buttó. This spring, it’s Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas with the injuries, and the competition is Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning.

After the Manaea injury, manager Carlos Mendoza said the Mets would go with a five-man rotation for the season’s first three weeks. Then, they may go to a six-man.

Megill had an uneven 2024, leaving his first start with a shoulder strain that kept him out for seven weeks. He pitched to a 7.43 ERA in June and was sent down to Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 2 after the Mets traded for Blackburn at the deadline.

When Blackburn got hurt in late August Megill returned to the rotation and came through with a wonderful five-start stretch in September, pitching to a 2.45 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings. He took the mound in Atlanta with a playoff spot on the line on the final day of the regular season and went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs and striking out eight.

All told, the 29-year-old was 4-5 with a career-low 4.04 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 78 innings pitched. For his four-year career, all with the Mets, he’s 21-21 with a 4.56 ERA and 1.39 WHIP.

Megill threw a scoreless first inning Tuesday before Brendan Donovan tripled and José Fermín singled him home in the second. He recorded two outs in the third and was pulled after reaching his pitch limit.

“He needs to be consistent,” Mendoza told reporters last month. “He’s got to stay on the attack. He’s got to get ahead. He’s got to put hitters away. Limit damage. Those long innings, that seems like it’s always that one inning that kind of gets away from him.

“It comes with experience. He’s been in the league for quite a bit now. He’s been through a lot. Ups and downs, struggles, success. The good thing is the stuff is there. You could see the velo, you could see the pitches. So finding that consistency and I think mentally he’s in a really good place right now because the experience and what he’s been through the past few years.”

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