Zach Thornton's bold performance leads to another opportunity in the Mets' limited rotation.

Zach Thornton’s Mixed Season with the Mets

This season hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Zach Thornton when it comes to securing a spot in the Mets’ rotation. But after Sunday’s game, well, there might be a glimmer of hope, though it’s hard to find much more than that after another letdown.

The rookie lefty lacks a standout pitching repertoire, yet he continues to impress the Mets’ organization by effectively utilizing what he has. Even in a 3-2 loss to Boston, where the game went into extra innings, he managed to pitch seven shutout innings against a capable batting lineup.

Interim manager Andy Green confirmed that Thornton’s next start will be in the majors—this isn’t really a shock given the current state of the rotation.

“He was aggressive, he was really pushing the pace,” Green remarked. “He was throwing strikes… that’s the kind of attitude we want to see from him.”

To be fair, this level of intensity is more than what’s been observed from other pitchers like Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Sean Manaea, and Freddy Peralta, who, by the way, is likely on the trading block as the August 3 deadline approaches.

Thornton mentions that his strategy relies on mixing all five pitches for strikes, which helps him compensate for his four-seamer that sits in the low 90s.

“That’s how I grew up watching the game,” he said, citing Jacob deGrom as an influence. “DeGrom pitched seven or eight innings each time and went around the lineup three or four times.”

Now, while Thornton’s performance may not draw many parallels to deGrom’s, his effort on Sunday was more than the Mets could have asked for, especially since his last two appearances were against Triple-A Syracuse. This was actually his second start in the majors this season after he already found some success against the Phillies.

He allowed only two hits and two walks over seven innings, needing just 82 pitches. In fact, in the first four innings, he hardly broke a sweat, retiring 13 of the first 14 batters, with only a walk allowed to Romy González and a double from Andrew Monasterio in the fifth.

Thornton struck out Jalen Duran and then forced a groundout from Nate Eaton, maintaining a lead for the Mets.

With players like Kodai Chiga out of the rotation and Clay Holmes sidelined with a fractured fibula, not to mention Tobias Myers being re-optioned to Syracuse, Thornton certainly has his chance. “I’m really excited to be here and help win,” he expressed.