PHILADELPHIA — Tylor Megill and the Mets have struggled all season to search out solutions to why he has taken a step again since 2022. Opportunities to make changes are few and much between on the Major League degree, so the Mets have despatched the struggling right-hander to Triple-A Syracuse in an effort to give him an opportunity to determine some issues out and try to search out higher kind.
Megill was optioned Thursday evening and the Mets referred to as up right-hander Vinny Nittoli to take his spot on the roster Friday, forward of a three-game sequence towards the Philadelphia Phillies. Nittoli was already on the 40-man roster after being acquired in a commerce by the Chicago Cubs for future issues.
“It’s just a chance for him to get back to what he’s capable of,” Mets supervisor Buck Showalter stated Friday at Citizens Bank Park whereas ready on phrase of whether or not or not the 2 groups would play by way of the rain. “He’ll be the first to tell you that it wasn’t what he could potentially bring. We’ve seen it. So it was a tough conversation yesterday, and today since he came in here and did some work.”
Megill is 6-4 with a 5.17 ERA and a 5.09 FIP in 15 begins this season. The 27-year-old got here into camp having misplaced weight over the winter however he additionally misplaced a couple of ticks on his velocity. In previous seasons, Megill may throw his fastball round 97 MPH, however this season he has been down within the 94-95 vary. However, command has been his largest situation, notably fastball command. Megill is strolling almost 5 batters per 9 innings (4.92), up from 2.47 final season and hanging out fewer hitters as effectively.
The velocity and the command began to decrease final season when he struggled by way of accidents. He missed almost a month with biceps tendinitis and later missed a big a part of the season with a shoulder pressure. He pitched in solely six video games within the second half of final season, all of them out of the bullpen.
“He’s shown that he can pitch not throwing every pitch 97-98. It’s the command that’s been the issue,” Showalter stated. “The walks from 0-2 to 3-2, that’s what we talked about. He brought it up before I even had a chance to and said that’s the thing that’s been the most frustrating is the command.”
Megill lamented his command Wednesday in Houston after permitting 4 earned in 2 2/3 innings to the Astros.
“I think all my off-speed stuff is playing really well right now, it’s just more so getting ahead with the heater,” Megill stated. “Making mechanical changes during the season, I just need reps. It’s harder to get reps in between starts because I’m trying to recover my arm and not trying to throw as much. I just need to go and trust it and fill up the zone.”
The Mets are hoping he will get the reps he wants in Triple-A.
“We talked about taking a breath,” Showalter stated. “You’ve been working on some things trying to get back there. And now he can go down there and have a little freedom to — I don’t want to say experiment — but try to get back to where he was. It wasn’t happening consistently enough up here, and we could use the extra arm in the ‘pen knowing that we were going to [demote him] it anyway, down the road.”
Nittoli, a reliever who has pitched in three profession Major League video games and has a 3.81 ERA with two Triple-A groups this season, is anticipated to be with the group at the least by way of the weekend to provide the bullpen an eighth arm whereas Drew Smith sits out the ultimate three video games of his suspension. Megill’s spot within the rotation doesn’t come up once more till Tuesday, so the Mets will talk about choices for a pitcher to take his spot and determine this weekend.
However, the choices don’t embrace left-handers Jose Quintana or Joey Lucchesi. Quintana (rib) is making one other rehab begin Sunday and can doubtless make yet one more earlier than coming off the injured listing. Lucchesi pitched Friday evening for Syracuse.
I KNOW YOU LINDOR
Dead and Co. is at Citi Field with the Mets away this week and guitarist John Mayer wore a Francisco Lindor shirt for the event. The musician and the shortstop toured the Mets clubhouse in between units.
Lindor is the one finalist from the Mets that made it previous the primary spherical of All-Star Game voting that’s nonetheless eligible to earn a beginning spot and he’s going head-to-head with Orlando Arcia of the Atlanta Braves for the NL spot. Lindor’s 14 dwelling runs and 43 runs are essentially the most amongst shortstops within the league and His 51 RBI is at the moment tied for the third-most within the NL.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com