Tylor Megill returned to the majors tonight against the Orioles. Not so much becuase he all of a sudden found his mojo, even though his last start in the minors was okay, but because the Mets traded two Hall of Famers to replenish their farm system. This means that the Mets need bodies. Tylor Megill, coincidentally, is a warm body.
This wreck of a season has created a chance for Megill, as he has had success in 2022 but has struggled from about September of last year on (just like everyone else on the 2022 Mets, seemingly.) We’re also going to see a lot of Carlos Carrasco and Phil Bickford the rest of the sesaon, but Carrasco is here because there’s nobody else coming. And Bickford is here to give up gophers and try to get the Mets a better draft pick next year. Megill? A combination of those things, but Megill has a chance to be an option for next season if he pitches well, as the Mets will have three spots to fill and depending on who you believe, free agency might not be the preferred route to fill all of those slots. So Megill will have a chance to impress.
He didn’t do so tonight. But hey, he didn’t walk anybody, and his velocity was up until the fifth inning when he basically became a batting practice machine.
Stop and stare, Santander. pic.twitter.com/RbVaMxqVmM
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 6, 2023
Luckily for Megill, one start is not going to decide his fate. He’ll have about 8-10 more barring any sort of injury. If he does something with it, then they could look at him for a back-end spot next season. If not, then it’s probably his last stand. The front office got rid of guys at the trade deadline that made sense to get rid of, and they also got rid of Justin Verlander, who could have helped next season, in the name of getting high end prospects back. But even if these games count for nothing, they’ll count for jobs. I’m sure Billy Eppler, Steve Cohen, and whoever they bring in to be Eppler’s immediate boss will hvae no problem getting rid of any dead weight or even any weight that still has some life to it in the name of roster turnover. And that’s a great thing. The old regime held on to guys way too long. Hope was a strategy for them. It clearly won’t be anymore.
Jeff McNeil had two hits, including a two run home run, and he drove in the only three runs for the Mets tonight. If you really want to get wild thinking about this off-season or at the 2024 deadline if things don’t go to plan, perhaps McNeil is someone who goes away if the Mets feel that someone like Acuna or Mauricio can play second base going forward. So if you want to look at a guy who could use a big two months, it’s Jeff McNeil. He’s been warming up lately, which is in line with him making clear tonight that while the season has been tough, it’s time for players to be professional and do their job. But with the Mets in a trade deadline induced tailspin, he’s far from the only player that could use a good two months.
Then there are some that won’t be helped by a good two months. If Phil Bickford gets everyone out in the next two months, he might not be back next season. But who are we kidding. Have you seen Bickford pitch for the Mets? Hell, I’m hoping he keeps this up so that the Mets can get a top 10 draft pick next season. If he does, I’ll build him a statue next to Seaver’s . It might be made of soot from one of the Friday Fireworks shows, but that just means it’ll match the feeling in my heart.
Where was I? Oh yeah. The Orioles won 7-3. It’s the Mets’ fifth loss in a row since the completion of the tear down. The good news is that they didn’t balk anybody home. Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander, as you saw above, hit moonshots. Henderson’s homer was caught by a fan, and his loving partner was very happy.
A mammoth home run from Gunnar Henderson … and a great catch from one lucky fan!
107.1 mph | 422 ft | @Orioles pic.twitter.com/nYFpMVtx7F
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 5, 2023
Baseball is wonderful, depending on who you ask.
Today’s Hate List
- Jake Paul
- Jake Bauers
- Caleb Ferguson
- Jonathan Broxton
- Aroldis Chapman
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