Decisions, decisions...
For three of the past four starts Tylor Megill was resembling not the stellar All Star caliber pitcher of April but more like the previous several seasons of mediocrity where you knew going in that keeping the opposition to fewer than four runs over the first five innings was the best you could aspire to achieve.
Then something happened up in Boston. All of the sudden Megill through an April style gem. In the game he gave up just a single run during his short 4.2 IP in Fenway. He fanned 10 batters during that non-qualifying start and walked just a single batter. He did give up four hits but some were of the infield variety. Of course, Megill being Megill there was a hit batsman and a wild pitch during his farewell departure inning, but ask anyone if you got a single run performance in just over half a 9 inning game from your starter while on the way towards 19 strikeouts, the answer would be a resounding yes.
While all of that was happening in Beantown, up in Syracuse recovering pitcher Paul Blackburn was putting on quite a show. In 7 IP he shut out his opponents giving up just 1 hit. He did issue two free passes which for Blackburn is a rare example of good control and he finished with 6 strikeouts. All in all, people were thinking that an ace-like performance from Blackburn would push the late addition Megill from the starting rotation since he has been struggling.
Now what?
As spring training inched towards its conclusion the narrative was that career starting pitcher Blackburn was heading to the bullpen to be a long reliever or spot starter. Then came the May Megill meltdown and everyone pretty much had concluded he would ascend to the starting rotation with Tylor Megill using up his final option year to return to Syracuse.
The question for David Stearns and his staff to figure out is who goes where. With the strong performance out of Megill in a hitting friendly ballpark you’d think he surely earned himself another go-around with an every fifth day starting assignment.
On the Blackburn side, he’s always struggled with control and aside from a fine 10 start rookie campaign in Oakland at age 23 it’s pretty much been unremarkable. He did earn an All Star berth in 2022 when he went a mediocre 7-6 over 21 starts with a 4.18 ERA, so it would appear he got a poor team’s token player entry to the July classic.
Many people are not sold on what Blackburn brings to the table and they wonder aloud what he would be like out of the bullpen. Some starters made that transition late in their careers like Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz, but he’s not that level of pitching arm.
The conventional wisdom has Blackburn arriving for the pen with someone like southpaws Genesis Cabrera or Jose Castillo being pushed out of the relief pitching corps. Cabrera has no options. Castillo was just added to the roster and has yet shown what he can or cannot do. Mets veteran Jose Butto does have an option but after a rough start he’s righted the ship and now sports a 2.77 ERA. No easy choices here.
Another approach would be to look at the formidable strikeout numbers Megill has provided while noticing he tends to struggle the 2nd or 3rd time through the order. Maybe he would be a stellar relief pitcher used in 8th inning type situations leading up to Edwin Diaz while opening up the now vacant starting spot for Blackburn. That change would put you right back into the which relief pitcher goes scenario.
The third option would be for David Stearns to engineer a trade to create room on the roster. Remember that Blackburn is one of three starting pitchers returning to the big club. Both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas are going to move from long tossing to pitching from the mound which is the first significant step on rehabilitation prior to the trip up to Citifield. Right now a trade could be to send a relief pitcher away or one of the two contending starting pitchers.
This situation will happen again in late June or early July when the next two starters are ready. Oddly, the best and most unlikely free agent acquisition Griffin Canning might be the one put on the trade market. He’s on a single year deal and given how well he’s done for the Mets in 2025 he’s not going to miss out on selling himself to the highest bidder. Given his awesome numbers he would likely bring back a relatively impressive return to open up another starting pitching slot. That’s half the battle.
David Stearns gets paid big bucks to make these difficult decisions.
11 comments:
Can’t trade pitchers until the hitters awaken from their lengthy early season slumber, and Montas and Manaea return, IMO. Megill has to stay.
Everyone is excited to see what Blackburn did in his last outing in the minors. But let’s not forget his last outing in the majors last year, when he got absolutely torched. Megill is 14th in the majors in Ks, 66 innings 48 IP,
and 2nd or 3rd in Ks per 9 innings for a starter. His treasure is not to be viewed as trash.
I’d put Blackburn in the pen or, better yet, expand to a 6 man rotation for now.
Good morning. Something’s happening later today that hasn’t occurred in over 10 years: All six of Oscar Meyer’s Wienermobiles will be in the same place.
But this meat up won’t be cordial: The Wienermobiles will race against each other at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the inaugural “Wienie 500,” a promotional event ahead of the Indy 500 on Sunday. And the stakes couldn’t be higher, with regional hot dog supremacy on the line. Each Wienermobile will represent a different regional hot dog—New York Dog (East), Slaw Dog (Southeast), Chili Dog (South), Chi Dog (Midwest), Seattle Dog (Northwest), Sonoran Dog (Southwest)—in the ultimate test of toppings.
Don’t expect anything too fast or furious. MotorTrend test-drove one of these whips in 2010, and it went from 0 to 60 mph in 24.81 seconds.
A scout told David Lennon this week that it is very rare that he sees a pitching more dominant than Trevor was this past outing... for four innings... and then, like more often than not, losses it when he loses confidence. That's Megill's motis... get angry with himself then lose confidence.
On paper, I would add Blackburn for that next time around in that rotation slot, but this would just cause more confidence issues for our current starter.
I agree with Tom but this is a tough decision in the next week for the Mets
By the way...
Steve Cohen did a lengthy (for him) tribute on X yesterday to our own Ernest Dove, who he called the greatest writer out there of Mets minor leaguers
In less than three hours, Ernest's followers jumped over 10,000 new readers.
A great tribute to a great write who is a great man.
And remember... you can find his podcasts here on Mack's Mets... until, of course Scott Boras becomes Dove's agent and pulls them off the site
What is the line in Vegas?
I am in the "not sold on Blackburn" camp. When he was healthy, he did not impress with the MLB club. Pitching well in rehab doesn't make the case. That said, Megill could be a great bullpen piece, as he tends to do these dominant 3-4 inning stretches.
In my book, 1-10 for NY dog
Can't hurt adding him to tiring out pen
Blackburn? He’s never been very good.
You're right but he has been very successful in his rehab assignments and you are paying him
But you DON’T replace McGill with him.
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