New York Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill is getting second and third opinions on his injured arm, manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed on Wednesday prior to his team’s series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The right-hander complained of arm tightness while throwing his secondary pitches during his latest minor-league rehab assignment on Sunday, prompting the Mets to send him back to New York, get imaging, and shut him down from throwing.
The team is hopeful that they will find out more about the injury in the next day or two, but all signs are pointing to Megill’s season being over.
“We’re running out of time,” Mendoza said earlier this week. “Especially now with him complaining about the same thing he went down with earlier in the year.”
Megill had been rehabbing an elbow sprain that he suffered in June — another issue that arose after throwing some of his secondary pitches. He made six minor-league starts between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse, including Sunday, in which he allowed five runs across two-plus innings. That is when he felt the discomfort in his pitching arm.
The 30-year-old would have been an intriguing option to add to the Mets’ pitching mix down the stretch. Granted, a starting role would have been anything but certain, considering he posted an ERA of 5.79 across his last eight major-league starts before going down with that elbow sprain.
But the Mets’ core of starters is anything but stable right now, outside of the youngsters Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat. Sean Manaea continues to struggle mightily after his season started late following an oblique injury. All-Star David Peterson has lost his consistent touch, and Clay Holmes is struggling to provide depth amidst a career-high workload. This, while Kodai Senga accepted a demotion to Triple-A to work on his mechanical issues.
