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Mets Notes: Tylor Megill joins team in Miami after Justin Verlander’s injury

MIAMI — Tylor Megill went from being the New York Mets’ Opening Day starter in 2022 to the Syracuse Mets’ Opening Day starter in 2023. Or so he thought, but things can change quickly in baseball and they sure did for the Mets this week.

Triple-A Syracuse starts its season Friday night and Tony Dibrell is on the mound instead of Megill, who is in Miami with the Major League club. The Mets made the roster move official Friday placing right-hander Justin Verlander on the injured list with a low-grade teres major strain and recalled Megill.

The right-hander will take Verlander’s Saturday start against the Miami Marlins and his start next week against the Marlins at the Citi Field opener.

“A lot of emotions and whatnot, but things don’t change,” Megill said Friday at LoanDepot Park. “Come up here and compete. Do your best.”

The Mets backdated the transaction to March 28, so Verlander would be in line to make his start the third time through the rotation if he’s healthy enough to do so.

Megill received the news that Verlander was injured Thursday in Syracuse when he was playing catch one day ahead of his scheduled start. Triple-A manager Dick Scott informed him he would be meeting the team in Miami to start Saturday.

It was only a few days ago that Megill was roughed up in his final Grapefruit League start and told he would start the season in Triple-A. A dejected Megill understood why the decision was made: his control had wavered throughout spring training. He attempted to work in new pitches this spring, including a harder slider that he started working with just two days before his final spring training appearance, which came last Saturday in Port St. Lucie, and the results were mixed.

Still, Megill wasn’t necessarily happy with the decision the Mets made to option him to Triple-A. He made some mechanical adjustments in his last bullpen session in Port St. Lucie that he hopes will limit the walks.

“Just throw strikes,” Megill said. “At the end of the day, I’m not trying to walk people. Just fill up the strike zone, pitch to contact and be on the attack. Some little bit of mechanical tweaks and whatnot.”

Megill and David Peterson, who started for the Mets on Friday in the second game of the series against the Marlins, are important depth starters this season, but they know it’s a tough task to stay in a rotation full of top veterans when the other five starters are healthy.

“He’s very mature about it,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Him and Peterson both, they understand what we’re trying to do and where they are what they need to do for us.”

GETTING IT WRONG

Jeff McNeil was given an automatic strike for a pitch clock violation Thursday night after Pete Alonso took too long to get back to first base after a foul ball. There was some controversy over the application of the rule since McNeil did not, in fact, run out the pitch clock. He was ready at the appropriate time.

The Mets asked the umpires for an explanation.

“They were wrong,” Showalter said. “It won’t happen again.”

McNeil hit an RBI single in that at-bat to extend a hitting streak that dated back to last season. The 2022 NL batting champ hit safely in 11 regular season games going back to October, and did not strike out once during the streak.

His streak of games without a strikeout ended at 12 Friday night, McNeil hit an RBI single in that at-bat to continue a hitting streak that dates back to last season. The 2022 NL batting champ has now hit safely in his last 11 games and has not struck out once during the streak. His streak of games without a strikeout is at 12, and the last player to have an 11-game hitting streak without a punch-out was Andrelton Simmons, from May 23-June 2, 2018.

MAKING IT OFFICIAL

All of the injured Mets went on the IL on Friday: Right-hander Sam Coonrod (lat strain), right-hander Bryce Montes de Oca (UCL surgery), right-hander Elieser Hernandez (shoulder strain), RHP Stephen Ridings (lat strain) and LHP Jose Quintana (rib fracture) went on the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Edwin Diaz (right patellar tendon repair) was placed on the 60-day list.

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Source: Berkshire mont

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