Man Is GOOD When He Is Healthy And Rested
So many Mets fans endlessly debated Jake deGrom’s staying or leaving before he left, and then displayed an array of feelings when he left, deflating many who were then elated (mostly) in getting Justin Verlander.
Taijuan Walker? Little speculation, then nary a peep after he defected to the Phillies (note to Phillies: ol’ Taijuan has allowed a home run every 7.5 innings in his career and will be pitching half his future games in your bandbox park, but hey, that’s your problem).
Anyway, before his 12-5 season of 2022, Walker was a mere 42-45 in his career, ERA around 4.00. He also had his share of injuries, but overcame them.
Tylor Megill has been hurt a lot in 2022, but before he 1) wore down late in 2021 and 2) got hurt in 2022, he proved he could be quite the pitcher:
In his first 56 Mets innings in 2021, after a very brief career stint in AA and AAA in early 2022, he posted a 3.21 ERA. Amazing, considering he only had 25% of the AA/AAA innings of Jake, Thor, Zach, and Matt.
Then he had some up and down starts over the last 6 weeks of 2021, which most attributed to hitting the wall. He averaged 10 Ks and just 3 walks per 9 IP throughout 2021.
In 2022, he was dominating early on, winning on opening day and going 4-1 in his first 6 starts with a 2.43 ERA and more than a K per inning.
Then he got slammed by the Cardinals, and afterwards went on the IL, and had two short outings, IL again, and only 47 MLB innings all year and just 14 after his first 6 stellar outings.
If he can return to full health, he could be BETTER than Taijuan Walker, based on his 2 very convincing early stretches in 2021 and 2022. Health is the key.
I remain bullish on Megill.
Jeff McNeil missed most of 2016 and 2017 in the minors with maladies, and been healthy and awesome since.
Maybe Megill replicates post-injury McNeil. If he does, well, Walker just inked a megabucks deal, why can’t Megill, when he is a free agent in 2028. Just got to build the reputation between now and then, and hit free agency after, oh, I dunno, having a 12-5 year like Walker just did?
Megill will be age 32 in his free agent year. That lost year of 2020 is going to cost a lot of guys a lot of $$, guys who were in the minors and missed all of 2020. The end result of lost year is in most cases, I'd imagine, is arriving a year later in free agency. The house almost always wins.
ReplyDeleteGot to think his bump in speed led to injuries. Maybe a spot in the BP is the answer.
ReplyDeleteMegil is one of our X factors if he could be close to the beginning of 2022 year picture then we could have the guy who can legitimately lead the next wave when verlander and max leave
ReplyDeleteI will say that last year, thru his first 6 starts, 4-1, 2.43, Megill felt very comparable to Scherzer, except for shorter Megill outings, and then he got hurt.
ReplyDeleteIf he can get back to that level of effectiveness, what a plus for the Mets he would be as an occasional starter and reliever.
Yep, he has to find the balance of being effective AND staying healthy. With the $$ being thrown around for healthy effective pitchers reaching free agency, "healthy" is key.
ReplyDeleteI like his look, but for the right return I'd include him in a trade package.
ReplyDeleteIf we could get Devers (with an extension, of course), I could see including him or Carrasco with Escobar and two of Baty/Vientos/ Mauricio.
Anyone agree?
Bill, Devers very good, but that is a lot to give up.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you offer?
DeleteI love Megill, and while I hope he makes a bundle in FA, I love that we have him as a cost controlled option through so much of his prime.
ReplyDeleteDevers is an interesting player, but it’s not certain that he’s traded (could be had for only $ next year), and so even with a window to negotiate an extension, I wouldn’t give up that package for him. I generally hate giving up prospects, and fully supportive of the club’s reluctance to do so (I already think that the Ruf and Hernandez deals were bad decisions) but for Devers with extension, I’d offer Vientos and Baty, as they would be the most redundant with Devers in the fold. I would probably include Escobar (if that adds value for Boston, which it might not) or maybe (maybe) Nido, or else or a lower level arm or two (NOT Tidwell/Allen). I wouldn’t sub in Mauricio, because he has the potential to fill other spots (2B, OF).
Not trading Megill anywhere if I can help
It.
We live in a very different Met world than ever before where we can have ANY FA player we want so we just wait till their free agent's and then make them an offer they can't refuse (but w/o the horse head thing). 99 times out of 100 they take the highest offer and I can't wait till next year when Ohtani is available. LGM!
ReplyDeleteGary, Cohen has a different type of checkbook than the Wilpons. The Wilpons' checkbook was always running out of checks. With Cohen, when he likes somebody, he signs them - then pulls out his little black book and checks off another well-done signing ("Cy Young winner replacement - CHECK. Coveted Japanese hurler - CHECK!)
ReplyDelete