Tylor Megill Ready to Step up for New York Mets in Justin Verlander's Absence

Tylor Megill is ready to rise the occasion and step up for the Mets during Justin Verlander's absence.

He's ready to step up.

Mets starter Tylor Megill is back with the team, replacing co-ace Justin Verlander who landed on the 15-day IL with a low grade teres major sprain on Thursday. 

Megill will be asked to pitch the third game of the season, as well as the Mets' home opener on April 6, which Verlander was initially scheduled to pitch.

But this isn't the first time that Megill has had to fill-in for an injured Cy Young Award winner. He did so last season on Opening Day after Jacob deGrom went down with an injury and Max Scherzer needed an extra day because of a hamstring hiccup.

The Mets will ask Megill to do it again.

“Got the call and I’m ready to go,” Megill said prior to Friday’s game. “It’s unfortunate what happened. Hopefully it's not long for Justin so I’ll come out here, do my thing and help the guys out.”

Megill began 2022 with a 4-0 record and 1.93 ERA in his first five starts before injuries derailed his season. 

The Mets signed Verlander, Jose Quintana and Kodai Senga in the offseason, which pushed Megill and David Peterson into depth roles. However, both pitchers have already entered the Mets' rotation due to early season injuries to Verlander and Quintana.

Although Megill had a shaky spring, walking 13 batters in 17 innings, manager Buck Showalter is confident in what he brings to the table.

“In [Megill’s] situation, he was trying to do some things to make the club,” Showalter said. “In some ways, when you put guys in the ‘come to the rescue’ mode, it’s not the same feeling of ‘I made the club.’ It’s harder to stay here than to get here. He’s very mature about it, him and Pete both.

“They understand what we’re trying to do and where they are and what they need to do for us to be successful.”

When Showalter saw Megill at the stadium on Friday he told him that he knew he'd be back. Now that Megill has returned, he must overcome his command issues from the spring. 

“Just throw strikes. Pitch to contact and just be on the attack," Megill said. "Little mechanical tweaks. Driving towards the plate and not steering off left.”

Before leaving for Syracuse, Megill threw a bullpen in Florida, where he began working through these adjustments.

“He approaches it a little differently from Max or Justin did and rightfully so,” Showalter said of Megill’s spring. “He’s working on some things, but when the game starts you get out of sync command wise, which is not him. He had a really good first couple of outings but some of the command got away from him in the end.”

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