Megill’s Struggles Continue Against Yankees
Tylor Megill expressed his apologies to Frank Sinatra, and it seems his performance has been a rollercoaster ride—high in April, low in May.
The Mets’ right-handed pitcher faced challenges in two earlier starts before Friday and ended up with his shortest and slowest outing of the season.
His biggest issue wasn’t just the contact he allowed but rather his disastrous control, which became evident during the Mets’ 6-2 loss to the Yankees. He gave up four earned runs on four hits and issued five walks over just 2²/₃ innings. This marked the third time he couldn’t finish the inning as the Yankees sent nine batters to the plate, putting the Mets in a 4-0 deficit.
“He didn’t throw enough strikes,” remarked coach Carlos Mendoza. “When you pitch like that against a lineup like theirs, they’re going to capitalize.”
Despite a promising start to the season with a 1.74 ERA over his first six outings, Megill has been prone to giving up four runs in each of his last three starts, each lasting less than four innings.
“I’m just putting myself in bad situations and being late,” Megill reflected, trying to make sense of his struggles.
The chain of events that led to his downfall on Friday began with Jorbit Vivas, who hit a solid single to right field. Aaron Judge followed that with a walk, and Megill, unfortunately, couldn’t catch a break. A slow grounder from Cody Bellinger found the glove of Mark Vientos, loading the bases with a wild throw.
Then came Paul Goldschmidt’s ground ball, which took a tricky bounce off Francisco Lindor, allowing two runs to score after a fumbled throw from Pete Alonso. From there, things spiraled further out of control. Jason Dominguez walked, and a sacrifice fly by Anthony Volpe made it 3-0. The continuous stream of walks reached its peak when both Austin Wells and Oswald Peraza walked consecutively.
“Walking four guys in an inning? That’s just not acceptable,” Megill acknowledged, clearly disappointed in himself.
Looking ahead, the Mets have Griffin Canning and David Peterson lined up to pitch in the next two games, hoping for a better outcome. Kodai Senga, who has shown great promise as the Mets’ ace this season, won’t be pitching in this series. Meanwhile, former Yankee Clay Holmes faced the Pirates on Wednesday, missing another chance to pitch at Yankee Stadium for his new team.
“We’re confident in the five guys we have in the rotation,” Mendoza stated when discussing his decision not to adjust the pitching schedule before the subway series. “It just so happened that this was how it lined up.”
