Mets' Tylor Megill finds best velocity but gets rocked in loss to O's
Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill throws to the Orioles in the first inning of a game on Saturday in Baltimore. Credit: Julio Cortez
BALTIMORE — In a literal way, Tylor Megill is back. He returned to the majors Saturday night in a 7-3 loss to the Orioles, the first of what likely will be a bunch of starts for him down the stretch for a club that knows it will not make the playoffs.
But in a deeper, more important way, Megill is not quite back yet.
For months, he has been trying to get back to being his regular self on the mound, including by returning to his old delivery and fastball grip. That project required time in the minors and is ongoing.
Megill gave up five runs and nine hits in 4 2⁄3 innings against Baltimore, walking no one and striking out three. He threw way harder than he did early this season, however, averaging 96 mph and touching 99 mph with his fastball — signs of progress for what he has been trying to accomplish.
In a fifth consecutive loss, Jeff McNeil homered and totaled three RBIs, but the rest of the Mets (50-60) did little. Kyle Gibson allowed three runs in seven innings for the Orioles (69-42).
“I don’t think it was terrible. Something to build off of and get on to the next one,” Megill said. “We’re at a really good stage, and it’s progressively getting better each outing.”
Manager Buck Showalter said: “That was more like him. I’m looking forward to seeing if he can carry it over . . . You can just tell in his face.”
Of two major changes Megill has been trying to implement, the bigger is a mechanical adjustment stemming from his right shoulder injury last season. To avoid a repeat of that issue, he spent the offseason getting used to a different release point that put less stress on his shoulder, his hand coming more straight over the top instead of angled slightly to the side.
But when he took the new form into games this year, it didn’t work. Within a few starts, with poor results matching the way he felt, he knew something was wrong. His velocity was down and his pitches weren’t as effective.
“I came in this year and tried to change things up because of what happened in previous years — and just looked absolutely horrible, honestly,” he said.
The other problem, Megill and the Mets deduced, was the grip of his fastball. He unintentionally had his middle finger and index finger too close together, which impacted the way the ball left his hand, which impacted the way it spun, which impacted the way it moved. Instead of staying/riding up, as it did when Megill was at his best, it wound up lower — around where his secondary pitches would go, which was a problem.
Thus there were changes, which were easier to decide on than implement: back to the old release point, back to the old grip. Megill’s shoulder, which broke down last year because he was throwing so hard, is “stronger than it ever was,” he said.
Making those tweaks in the majors — where the final score is typically the most important thing to come out of a day — proved difficult. So the Mets sent him to Triple-A Syracuse in late June.
“Being able to go down there, it’s stress-free in a way, you don’t have the implications that there are up here. It’s lower stress,” Megill said.
His results were ugly there, too, but it didn’t matter as much. He started to see improvement, including with his velocity and — in flashes — results. On Friday, after rejoining the Mets a day before his start, he was beaming with optimism.
“Natural is always best, obviously,” he said. “Just do it every day until it starts to feel natural again, not forced.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
