Megill’s impressive spring earns spot in Mets’ rotation

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Tylor Megill did it again.

He entered spring training somewhere in the next five, not the starting five. He impressed team decision-makers as the depth chart got shallower due to injuries. And he wound up winning a spot in the season-opening rotation for a fourth year in a row.

Megill will start the Mets’ second game, Friday against the Astros, manager Carlos Mendoza said Sunday. That lines him up to also pitch the home opener, April 4 against the Blue Jays, the second time in three years he would have that honor.

The rotation at the outset will be Clay Holmes on Opening Day, followed by Megill, Griffin Canning, David Peterson and Kodai Senga.

Paul Blackburn, a starter by trade, will begin in the bullpen as a long reliever.

“Megill earned it,” Mendoza said. “He came into camp on a mission. He went out there and earned it. He did a lot of the things we were asking him. It starts with throwing strikes and attacking hitters, and he did that during the spring. The stuff is elite. He earned it.”

The Mets remain big believers in Megill, who at 29 is entering his fifth major-league season. He owns a career 4.56 ERA in 74 games. In each of the past two years, he struggled to such a degree that the team demoted to Triple-A Syracuse.

Upon returning last September, though, he was great, posting a 2.45 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings (five starts).

Megill has shown similar flashes of excellence before, but the Mets want to find out if this one is for real.

“Obviously, it’s been a few years of being a fill-in with guys going down and coming in,” Megill said. “At some point, things gotta change. I want to be a guy who sticks.”

Reasons to buy in include Megill’s apparent decision to throw strikes and attack hitters. Previously, he said, he was “trying to be too perfect, too fine,” which resulted in issuing walks.

Additionally, he has supplemented his four-seam fastball/slider combo with a sinker, introduced mid-2024, that is particularly helpful against righthanded hitters. And over the offseason, his brother, Brewers closer Trevor Megill, helped him refine a curveball that is now tighter, faster and “more lethal, I guess you could say,” Megill said.

Those are all reasons Megill leapfrogged Blackburn on the depth chart. Last July, the Mets acquired Blackburn from the Athletics to try to bolster the rotation, bumping Megill to the minors. At the end of camp, Megill has come out on top.

“I’m excited to just be a part of this group. Really,” said Blackburn, who had offseason surgery to repair a spinal fluid leak. “Every guy that’s in the rotation earned that spot.”

Blackburn’s role is fluid. Beginning April 11, the Mets are scheduled to play 13 consecutive days, a stretch during which they intend to insert a sixth starter to keep everybody on an every-six-days schedule — their strong preference over the traditional every-five-days. Blackburn would be the natural choice.

Thus, in the meantime, the Mets must be “very meticulous” in using him, Mendoza said.

“When we put him out there, he’s going to have to go, try to keep the pitch count up,” Mendoza said.

Sean Manaea, out with a strained right oblique, has resumed throwing but has not gotten back on the mound, so he still is in the early stages of his de facto spring training.

Frankie Montas, suffering from a strained right lat, still is shut down and will be out until at least mid-May. Mendoza recently described him as expected back “at some point in the middle of the year.”

Notes & quotes: The Mets demoted reliever Dedniel Nunez to Syracuse because he is not physically ready for the start of the season, having been limited for most of spring training following a severe flexor/pronator injury in 2024. Mendoza called it “the right thing to do” instead of asking him to perform in the majors at a level he is not prepared for . . . The last bullpen spot is down to Max Kranick and Huascar Brazoban, both of whom can be optioned to the minors.