Megill Is Mets Mr. Reliable

 

Tylor Megill striking out Nick Fortes in the second inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets were very patient with Tylor Megill through the start of his career, and that has paid off in him now being one of their most reliable pitchers.

That is because the big right-hander can always be counted on, even though he never seems to have a defined role. That included this season, but after the Mets lost Sean Manaea, the big right-hander was slotted in as the No. 2 starter in the Mets rotation after a stellar spring training.

Megill debuted in 2021, and he made 18 starts, and went 4-6 with a 4.52 earned run average (ERA). The following season, one in which the Mets won 101 games, he didn't take the next step, and went 4-2 with a 5.13 ERA, as he appeared in 18 games, nine of which were starts. In 2023, he lowered his ERA to 4.70 and he made 25 starts, as he went 9-8, but he saw his WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) skyrocket to 1.575, as he allowed 141 hits and 58 walks n 126 1/3 innings.

Last season was a revelation for Megill, as he lowered his ERA significantly, to 4.04, while making 15 starts and had a 4-5 record, as he struck out 91 in 78.0 innings, giving him a career-best strikeout/9 innings of 10.5 He also lowered his WHIP to 1.308, as he only walked 32, while allowing 70 hits.

Megill's first start came on March 28 against the Houston Astros, and he allowed just one run on three hits and a walk, with six strikeouts, in five innings, as the Mets won, 3-1.

Then, Megill got his second career Opening Day start at Citi Field, and he threw 5 1/3 shutout innings, as he allowed two hits and two walks, and struck out four, as the Mets beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0. 

Those starts gave Megill a 2-0 record with an 0.87 record entering his start on Wednesday afternoon against the Miami Marlins.

Sometimes a pitcher can demonstrate his growth on days he doesn’t have it, and that was the case in this one, as he opened the game by walking Xavier Edwards on four pitches, then did the same with Kyle Stowers. 

After watching those eight pitches miss the strike zone, some not that close, Mets Pitching Coach Jeremy Hefner went to the mound to talk to Megill, and the whole infield joined in. This was almost like a basketball timeout, fitting since St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino and his Big East Champion team was in the building (our report on that will be coming up soon.

That settled Megill down, and his first pitch to Jonah Bride was a strike that got the crowd going, and he eventually struck him out.

Then, Megill struck out Matt Mervis looking, and after Dane Myers singled to load the bases, he struck out Griffin (son of Jeff) Conine to get out of the inning scoreless.

Megill then got the first two outs in the second before he walked Javier Sanoja and allowing a single to Edwards before striking out Stowers to get out of that.

In the third, he struck out two more, while working around a Myers single, and in the fourth, he got a pair of pop-ups to shortstop Francisco Lindor before he gave up a single to Sanoja, and got Edwards to line out to third baseman Mark Vientos to end the frame.

Megill opened the fifth inning by allowing a single to Stowers before he got Bride to hit a ground ball to second baseman Brett Baty.

In what looked like the start of a double play, Baty fired one to Lindor at the bag, but he threw it away, allowing Stowers to reach second and Bride to reach base.

Megill then allowed an RBI single to Mervis, and that was all for his afternoon, as he hit the 90 pitch mark.

Max Kranick was first out of the bullpen, and he struck out Myers and got Conine to fly out to left field before allowing an RBI single to Nick Fortes to make it 2-0 Miami. Graham Pauley struck out to end the frame.

That closed the book on Megill, as he went four innings (plus three hitters), and allowed two runs (both unearned) on six hits and three walks, while striking out seven, and 56 of his 90 pitches were strikes.

Those two runs would be all Marlins starter Max Meyer needed, as he threw 6 1/3 innings, and scattered two hits and two walks, while striking out four. He didn't allow a hit until a Lindor single with one out in the sixth.

Miami tacked on three in the ninth to win 5-0, and avoid the sweep.

This ended the Mets' winning streak at six games, and ends a homestand in which they went 5-1, giving them a record of 8-4.