MLB: New Blood! The rookie pitcher who is a sensation with the Mets

Just a month ago, first baseman Pete Alonso chuckled when asked what he knew about the Los Angeles rookie. New York Mets, Tylor Megill, and finally replied, “I knew he was a skilled pitcher.” That is not contempt; For Alonso and many others on the team, there wasn’t much else to know.

Megill, the organization’s 21st prospect, entered this season with just one career start above the ball. Low-A (Class A Low). It didn’t seem likely that it would affect the team much this summer:

But shortly after left-hander Joey Lucchesi tore his left UCL elbow last month, requiring season-ending surgery, the Mets, with no other more proven options, inserted Megill into their rotation. And now Alonso knows everything about him.

Since joining the Mets, Megill (25 years old and 2.01 meters tall) has shown enough in three starts to firmly establish himself as a regular option for Day 5. He struck out seven in the first five innings of the Mets’ 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers Monday, allowing Alonso’s two-run double in the seventh inning to stand tall.

With her parents present, Megill admitted her only career with a solo home run by Venezuelan Omar Narvaez in the fourth inning, then responded by retiring five of the last six batters she faced. The rookie right-hander finished with seven strikeouts to bring his season total to 19. Only two Mets pitchers, Matt Harvey (23) and Steven Matz (20), struck out more in their first three career starts.

While Megill’s fastball, which ran at a temperature of 97 mph, remains his success, the most encouraging aspect of his night was almost certainly his turnaround, which he threw 22 times for 16 strikes and seven swings-and-miss. . Earlier this season, several scouts who saw Megill in the Minors called that change his defining pitch, one that would mark the difference between a future as a multi-inning reliever and a genuine starter.

Although Narvaez’s home run came on a switch, the rest of the Brewers struggled to make solid contact against him, frequently swinging on pitches Megill buried under the zone.

It’s an offering Megill has been much more comfortable pitching with over the past year and a half, after constant repeats during catch games and bullpen sessions.

Megill’s efforts Monday earned him a third straight no-decision, which wasn’t a sure thing given the early dominance of opposing starter Brandon Woodruff. The Mets were able to support their starter with a double by Brandon Nimmo and a sacrifice fly by Dominic Smith in the fourth, but Woodruff allowed nothing more until the seventh, when he put the first two runners on base with a base on balls of Francisco Lindor and a single by Smith. That brought Alonso, who doubled over the line to give the Mets their first lead.

After Puerto Rican closer Edwin Diaz made a somewhat shaky save, the Mets moved to 3-0 in Megill’s three starts. Add in his 3.77 ERA and 19-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Megill has done more than enough to stay in the rotation, at least for the next several weeks.

He has also given the Mets an advantage heading into the Trade Deadline season. Earlier Monday, general manager Zack Scott discussed the likelihood of the Mets adding pitchers with Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard and Lucchesi, all still out of the game. As it stands, the Mets will almost certainly make a move (or three), but Megill has added another dimension to those discussions; Thanks to him, Scott will not be as desperate in the negotiations as he would have been otherwise.

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These days, Megill has become much more than just a “right-handed pitcher.” Coach Luis Rojas praised two qualities in particular: Megill’s poise, which has been a constant since her first day in the majors, and her adaptability.

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