QUEENS, N.Y. — The New York Mets could not go one full time through their starting rotation in 2024 before another injury cropped up, the team announcing on Monday that it has placed Tylor Megill on the 15-day injured list due to a low-grade right shoulder strain.
He will be shut down for five to seven days before being assessed, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.
“I feel nothing really crazy right now,” Megill said. “Just a little bit of soreness, soreness after throwing, but the pain isn’t anything significant.”
In a corresponding move, the Mets recalled relief pitcher Reed Garrett from Triple-A Syracuse.
Megill lasted just four innings in his season debut on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers — a 4-1 loss to drop New York to 0-3 — before exiting because he was “a little bit tender in his shoulder area,” according to bench coach John Gibbons, who took over for Mendoza while he served a one-game suspension.
“[The fourth inning was] when I felt it,” Megill said. “When I threw a curveball… it just started getting tight.”
In his four innings of work, Megill allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks. He underwent an MRI after his outing, which revealed the strain.
The 28-year-old right-hander missed nearly four months during the 2022 season with right biceps tendinitis, an injury he loosely compared the initial tightness to when he first encountered that injury two years ago, though he was quick to add that it is “nowhere near like the pain that was there in 2022.”
Megill won the final available spot in New York’s rotation in the first place because of an injury. Ace Kodai Senga went down with a shoulder strain of his own early in the spring, which is expected to keep him sidelined until May. He has since begun throwing every other day while the team hammers down a concrete program.
Jose Butto becomes an immediate option to replace Megill while he is on the shelf. The fellow right-hander put together a strong showing in spring, allowing a single run in 10 innings of work. The problem is that as a member of the 40-man roster, he is not eligible to join the big club until April 12 unless another Mets player goes on the injured list.
“If everyone’s healthy, [Megill’s replacement] will have to be a nonroster guy,” Mendoza began. “If we go that route.”
