SAN DIEGO — Tylor Megill is likely getting another chance to join the Mets’ rotation.
Paul Blackburn played catch Sunday and it didn’t go as well as he or the Mets had hoped. The team felt it best to give him a break so the bone bruise on his right hand/wrist can heal. As a result, they placed him on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Saturday, and recalled right-hander Huascar Brazobán.
The Mets optioned Brozobán to Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, but after Blackburn went down with an injury they had him stay with the team in the event they needed another arm. This gives the Mets another reliever through Sunday and for the first two games of the next series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but they’ll need another starter for the series finale in Phoenix on Thursday, or for the start of the series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday.
Left-hander David Peterson is slated to start the series in Chicago, but with Monday off, the Mets could move him to Thursday and keep him on regular rest. The Diamondbacks currently lead the NL Wild Card race, so the Mets may opt to use a more reliable arm like Peterson in a high-stakes game.
“Those are some of the things that we’re discussing right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Sunday at Petco Park. “But we’re anticipating bringing someone in.”
Right-handed swingman Jose Butto is not a candidate to start. Megill pitched Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse, so the big right-hander would make the most sense given where the Mets are in the rotation.
Megill had a short outing against Durham, using 79 pitches over 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit, walking two and striking out six. His last time out, he went 7 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out 11 against Rochester. In the big leagues this season, Megill went 2-5 with a 5.17 ERA over nine starts and one relief appearance.
Blackburn is not expected to be out for longer than two weeks.
“He went out there and played catch. As expected, he was stiff and sore,” Mendoza said. “But this should be a 15-day IL [stint], and then he should be ready to go, fully built up by the, you know, by the time he’s eligible to come back.”
Syracuse third baseman Brett Baty was injured in Saturday’s game, fracturing his right index finger when he was hit by a pitch on a checked swing. The timeline for a return is 4-6 weeks, which means his season might be over. Baty was expected to rejoin the big league club when rosters expand in September, but he’s no longer an option.
Rosters can expand to 28 on Sept. 1. Megill will likely stick around as pitching depth, leaving the Mets with one more spot to fill.
“It’s a big blow, especially where we are in the season,” Mendoza said. “His name was one of the names probably in consideration for September. So now we’ve just got to get him back healthy, however long that [takes].”
The Mets have not ruled out a return to action for Baty this season, but Mendoza said it’s unlikely. The 24-year-old Baty slashed just .229/.306/.327 with four home runs, three doubles, 16 walks and 42 strikeouts in 171 big league appearances this season. He was demoted to Triple-A in June and saw significant time at second base, a new position for him. With Ronny Mauricio out for the season, the Mets experimented with using Baty as a utility infielder before the demotion, but ultimately knew they needed another infielder and called up Jose Iglesias.
Still, they had Baty taking reps in the middle infield with Syracuse. Baty might be more versatile now, but his future with the Mets is still unclear. He wouldn’t be the first prospect to struggle before going on to have a productive big league career, but he’ll have to wait until spring training to show that he can consistently produce in the big leagues.