Tylor Megill may have pitched himself out of Mets’ rotation
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Tylor Megill’s chance to claim the vacancy in the Mets’ rotation to start the season may have withered with his control problems over his past two appearances.
On Saturday, the right-hander walked five batters over five-plus innings in a 4-4 exhibition tie with the Cardinals at Clover Park.
It was something of a continuation of his appearance against the Cardinals last Sunday, when Megill walked five over three innings.
This time, Megill allowed three earned runs and was removed after 90 pitches to complete his Grapefruit League season with a 3.71 ERA.
“There’s positives and there’s negatives,” Megill said, when asked to summarize his spring training. “The negatives are I am walking a lot more batters than normal. I am working on new stuff and trying it out in games.”
Megill said he has been working on a new slider that gave him trouble in the early innings.
He is trying to throw the pitch harder than he has in the past, aiming for the 85-88 mph range, so hitters have a tougher time getting a secondary read.
Manager Buck Showalter stopped short of saying David Peterson had won the rotation spot.
“[Megill] is healthy and good physically and that is a huge step for him,” Showalter said. “He’s in good shape and I think he is going to help us this year. I like the things I am seeing … I like the fact it looked like he was going to have a two-inning outing and he ended up pitching into the sixth.”
Peterson stretched out to 90 pitches in a minor league game.
The left-hander didn’t allow an earned run in his four Grapefruit League appearances this spring.
Peterson or Megill will start in the second game of the season on Friday in Miami. Max Scherzer will get the opener and Justin Verlander is locked into Game 3.
The Mets have the rotation opening following rib surgery on Jose Quintana, which will keep the left-hander sidelined at least into July.
Whomever isn’t chosen between Peterson and Megill is expected to begin the season at Triple-A Syracuse as rotation depth.
