PHOENIX — A team that began the season boasting its starting pitching depth will again be reaching for it when Tylor Megill is recalled to face the White Sox on Friday.
Megill has disappointed in his two stints with the Mets this season, but at least has shown flashes of success at the major league level, which is more than many teams can say about essentially the No. 8 or 9 starter in the rotation.
Paul Blackburn was placed on the injured list last weekend with a right hand contusion after absorbing the brunt of a 100-mph line drive from David Peralta in San Diego, leaving the Mets with little choice other than Megill, who has pitched to a 5.17 ERA in 10 appearances for the team this season.
Megill’s latest opportunity comes with Kodai Senga and Christian Scott on the injured list, along with Blackburn.
Another pitcher who began the season as part of the rotation mix, Jose Butto, was shifted to the bullpen in early July and has thrived so much in the role that team officials have decided to keep him there.
Brandon Sproat, the organization’s top pitching prospect, has struggled since his promotion to Syracuse this month and Triple-A pitchers such as Dom Hamel and Mike Vasil haven’t progressed as the Mets would have liked this season.
The Mets still have lefty Joey Lucchesi, but he was deemed expendable enough to be designated for assignment in July before returning to the organization when he wasn’t claimed off waivers.
Now it’s another chance for the 29-year-old Megill, whose raw stuff includes a 96-97 mph fastball and a formidable splitter that he learned from Senga but hasn’t translated into sustained success.
“When he does struggle it’s self-inflicted — it’s often not the other team,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “It’s like ‘walk, walk, homer.’ So prevent the walks and then if they hit the solo home run it’s more manageable. It comes in spurts too, where he will cruise and then it kind of unravels a little bit, so anticipating that punch coming and being able to punch back quicker than ‘I’m already hit’ and have to adjust. It’s anticipating, it’s more like the game within the game with him than anything stuff related.”
At Triple-A Syracuse, Megill has been focused on efficiency so he can work deeper into games, according to Hefner.
In five of his last six starts for the Mets, the right-hander lasted fewer than six innings.
“He’s been pitching off his fastball a little bit more and trying to go deeper in games, finding the strikeouts when he can find them,” Hefner said. “But really the focus was count control, throw strikes, not walking guys, using the sinker to get early ground balls and there is general refinement of all the other pitches.”
Carlos Mendoza had the option of starting Megill on Thursday, but the manager gave the assignment against the Diamondbacks to David Peterson given the opponent and the lefty’s recent success.
It also allowed the Mets to keep an extra reliever on the roster until Megill is recalled.
Blackburn will miss at least two starts.
If Megill shows he is capable, the Mets still could consider him as part of a six-man rotation or for a long relief role in the bullpen once Blackburn returns.
“It’s huge for where we are at in the season and what’s in front of us to have a guy like Megill come up and fill that hole,” Hefner said. “I don’t know how long he is going to be here, no one does. But if you have five or six starts left and have that type of arm, there is an opportunity in front of him. He’s shown spurts of dominance at the major league level and we expect him to do that.”