Tylor Megill's return signals Mets rotation's slow return to health
Mets pitcher Tylor Megill throws during the first inning against the Phillies on April 29 at Citi Field. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
SAN DIEGO — The Mets starting rotation is getting closer and closer to looking like its ideal self.
Tylor Megill, who’s been sidelined with right biceps tendinitis since May 12, was traveling to meet the team in San Diego Monday evening, Buck Showalter said, and the hope is that he’ll be able to pitch sometime this weekend against the Angels. The righthander technically would line up to pitch Saturday.
“He's been good for a while,” Showalter said. They’re “trying to make sure he's 100% so he'll be able to go five-plus the first time out.” The Mets continue to need that sort of length, as their taxed relief corps attempts to survive this West Coast trip. They used five pitchers Sunday and six pitchers Saturday, and Megill's activation will mean one less arm in the bullpen.
Megill represents the first piece of a reconstructing rotation that’s been without Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, who are also making positive progress toward returns — though that remains some time away’. Megill, the team’s opening day starter thanks to injuries to the two aces, is 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA over seven starts this year.
DeGrom threw off the mound Saturday for the first time since spring training, throwing 19 pitches and continuing to stay on pace for a July return. Scherzer, who has a strained oblique, is also expected back in July.
Megill last pitched Sunday, in a rehab appearance with Double-A Binghamton, throwing 53 pitches over 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and no walks.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
