PORT ST. LUCIE — Tylor Megill was already toying with the idea of adding more pitches last season when he added what he calls the “American spork,” a split-finger fastball modeled after Kodai Senga’s infamous forkball. But the Mets’ right-hander went beyond adding one pitch over the winter, adding two others to his repertoire.
Megill also added a sweeper and a cutter over the winter while training at Push Performance in Tempe, Ariz., a facility that was recommended to him by his brother Trevor, a right-hander with the Milwaukee Brewers. He now throws seven pitches and they all look similar coming out of his hand. Now the key is trusting those pitches to finally establish consistency at the big-league level and stay in the Mets’ rotation.
“It seems like this offseason went terrific and my pitch arsenal is completely different,” Megill told the Daily News on Wednesday at Clover Park. “My slider is spinning pretty true. I used to throw like a gyro-slider and now it’s spinning like a fastball. The sweeper is good. It’s tight and it’s big.”
The Mets expected big things from their big homegrown right-hander after he made some big starts in his rookie season in 2021. He hit a wall after a few months, but that’s not uncommon for rookies.
But then he hit a wall after a few months in 2022. His velocity jumped but it also might have caused the back-to-back shoulder injuries that took him out of action for much of the season. He returned for a playoff chase in September but by then, the Opening Day starter had lost his spot in the rotation.
Again, in 2023 he started strong by winning his first three decisions. But Megill didn’t win again for a month. By the end of June, the Mets demoted him to Triple-A. He struggled to maintain velocity throughout the entirety of his outings and his command often wavered. His outings were brief. Megill made 31 starts but only threw 126 1/3 innings, going a full seven innings only once.
“With our team, there were a lot of expectations,” Megill said. “Not pitching well, I felt really bad. I wanted to win games and help the team out and I wasn’t doing that for a good stretch. It sucks, it definitely sucks. And then, obviously, I got sent down to Triple-A.”
The problem Megill identified was mechanical. Like many pitchers do, he changed his mechanics after the injury. The 6-7 righty also dropped weight last winter and some pitchers struggle to find their old form in a new body.
“I don’t think my shoulder was ready for how much of a velocity increase I had,” Megill said. “We were trying to negate that and be aware of it, and kind of switch up mechanics in ways where it was going to help my shoulder be a little healthier. But I think my shoulder is strong and in a really healthy place where it’s able to withstand that velocity and maintain it.”
Megill broke down his mechanics with Kyle Driscoll, the Mets’ former Triple-A pitching coach who is now the pitching coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They looked at video of his old mechanics. Former manager Buck Showalter commended the staff repeatedly, saying they did a “nice job” with Megill in Syracuse.
He went 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in his final five starts.
Megill tried to maintain a positive outlook and sought the support of his family, especially his brother.
“Whenever we pitch, we send each other videos,” Megill said. “Just talk to hype each other up.”
The 28-year-old Megill still has two minor league options, but he’s hoping the Mets won’t have to use them. The goal is to make the rotation out of camp, make 30 or more starts and throw more than 170 innings. As far as velocity goes, Megill wants to throw as hard as necessary to get hitters out. There isn’t a specific number, the goal is just outs.
He’ll get the start in the Mets’ first Grapefruit League game this weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals. With a new manager in charge, the club is going with some depth starters early in spring games.
“He’s in a good spot right now,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “Not only the way he’s bouncing back [after throwing], but the conversations he’s having with Hef, the pitching coaches, and even the catchers and some of the feedback from hitters. That tells you he’s in a good spot, not only physically, but mentally.”
