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PORT ST. LUCIE — Tylor Megill unleashed his newest pitch on three occasions Sunday and though he was unmoved by the results took comfort that he will have additional chances this spring to work on it.
The pitch is a cutter, which darts in against left-handed batters. The Mets right-hander began dabbling with the cutter during the offseason with the idea it would give lefty batters another factor to consider before extending over the plate against his tailing four-seam fastball.
“I definitely wanted to add another weapon,” Megill said Sunday after pitching three shutout innings in the Mets’ 6-4 exhibition loss to the Cardinals at Clover Park.
Megill sat in the 95-97 mph range with his fastball for this appearance, in which he allowed two hits and struck out three with three walks.
As a rookie last season, the 26-year-old helped stabilize a rotation desperate for arms. Megill was strong for two months before a late-season dive — that may have been attributed to pitching by far his most innings in a season in his career — sabotaged his numbers. Overall he finished 4-6 with a 4.52 ERA in 18 starts. He pitched 130 innings combined in the minor leagues and big leagues. His previous high was 71 ²/₃ innings in 2019.
Megill averaged 94.6 mph last season with his fastball, according to Statcast, with his slider and changeup the two other pitches he prominently displayed.
The Mets have a full veteran rotation if all are healthy, but manager Buck Showalter and his staff are monitoring Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco, both of whom are returning from offseason surgery and may need additional time.
Megill and David Peterson are among the pitchers who serve as rotation insurance. Peterson pitched three innings Sunday and allowed four runs, including homers to Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt. If the Mets begin the season with all five starters healthy, Megill and Peterson could be considered for the bullpen, but are more likely to start for Triple-A Syracuse.
“Obviously it lingers in the back of my head, but I can’t let that get to me,” Megill said. “At the end of the day there is going to be a lot of pitching and there is going to be a lot of need for arms, so whenever my name is called I am going to be ready and just keep working.”
Megill has quickly impressed Showalter.
“I like the presentation, the whole body language,” Showalter said. “I have got a lot of people telling me about him and they have more experience with him and I lean on that, but he’s pretty athletic for a big guy. I’d be pretty picky not to say that’s what they look like.”
Part of the thrill for Megill has been connecting with his boyhood hero Max Scherzer, whom the Mets signed this offseason. The two pitchers were playing catch last week when the reality hit Megill.
“I was like fan-boying a little bit,” Megill said. “It’s fun to watch somebody you grew up [watching] in middle school and high school, all the way until now and now he’s on the same team, it’s incredible. I’ve chatted with him a couple of times, so I take to heart what he says to me. At the end of the day I am trying to get better and he’s trying to help other people get better.”
Megill’s approach in a clubhouse that includes another multiple Cy Young Award winner in Jacob deGrom is to listen more than speak.
“Just taking in the knowledge that they have and trying to chat when I can,” Megill said. “Not trying to overstep boundaries. Just stand by, if I have questions, not to be too much in their space.”
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