Tylor Megill Dominates as Jacob deGrom-Less Mets Secure Opening Day Victory
Who’s Tylor Megill? And where did he come from?
These were the types of questions being asked on Opening Day from everyone aside from hardcore New York Mets fans.
On Thursday, Megill, a native of Long Beach, California, became the seventh different pitcher to start on Opening Day for the franchise over the last 10 seasons. In Queens, consistency has certainly been difficult to locate over the past decade.
With ace Jacob deGrom (shoulder) on the shelf for at least four weeks, paired with Max Scherzer’s (hamstring) start being pushed back to Friday, the Mets were left without a starter for the season opener. In the end, they ultimately turned to Megill, who’s entering just his second major league campaign.
After posting a 4.52 ERA across 89 2/3 innings in 2021, expectations were tempered heading into his first start of ‘22. But almost immediately, the 26-year-old took the baseball world by storm as he blew away the Washington Nationals.
Starting strong, Megill threw 68 pitches over five shutout-innings, where he allowed just three hits and struck out six batters. Thanks to five runs of support, he came away with his first victory of the season – one he definitely won’t forget.
Most notably, Megill lit up the radar gun as his velocity jumped dramatically from the previous season. His four-seamer, which averaged 94.6 m.p.h. a year ago, sat at 96.1 m.p.h. and reached 99.1 m.p.h. in Washington.
Out of the gate, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound right-hander wasn’t holding back and consistently threw in the upper-90s. Of the 39 fastballs he threw, 19 of them generated a swing, three of which were misses.
Before the first inning concluded, Megill earned his first strikeout of the night – the 100th of his career – by blowing a 99.1 m.p.h. heater past infielder Cesar Hernandez.
Despite a minor dip in the third inning, for the most part, Megill sustained his increased velocity throughout his five innings of work. Even with his minor drop-off, though, he went back to that well when he needed to later on.
As superstar Juan Soto stepped to the plate for his second at-bat, he did so with two runners on base and only one out recorded. Once the count reached 2-2, Megill struck out one of the best hitters in the sport with a 97.9 m.p.h. fastball.
Similar to his four-seamer, the young righty also witnessed a massive spike regarding his changeup, whose velocity rose by 4.5 m.p.h. Last season, his off-speed offering averaged 85.4 m.p.h., however, that figure climbed to 89.9 m.p.h. on Thursday.
In total, Megill threw 14 changeups – tied as his second-most used pitch – against the Nationals, resulting in a pair of whiffs.
As for his third offering, his slider, it too exceeded last season’s performance. While its velocity didn’t differ, it did experience a massive boost in movement, particularly involving its spin rate.
One season ago, Megill’s breaking ball averaged 2,126 RPMs, consisting of 34 inches of vertical break on average. In his first start of ‘22, however, those averages increased to 2,287 RPMs and 38 inches of break.
Enjoying instant success with these improvements, the former eighth-round selection registered five whiffs and four strikeouts with his devastating slider.
Due to multiple injuries, Megill made his major league debut last season, only to struggle to keep balls in the yard. Now, following his impressive start to Year 2, he’s set the tone for what could be a breakout performance.
If these changes to his arsenal remain, he could be well on his way to dramatically surpassing his 26.1 percent strikeout clip from ‘21. Perhaps it’ll inch closer to the 28.3 per cent rate he recorded at triple-A Syracuse during that same season.
Either way, with deGrom unavailable, New York is counting on its depth to fill that massive void until the four-time All-Star returns. Right now, it appears Megill might be the answer to that situation.
The 2022 season is only a day old, although it certainly looks bright for one of the Mets’ young hurlers. Yet even after his impressive performance, Megill remains only 34% owned in Yahoo leagues at the moment. For those in NL only leagues, or have teams in need of some pitching help, this may be your last call to grab him from the waiver wire.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85