QUEENS — Mets manager Buck Showalter admitted that there would be little mystery as to which pitchers could be options to replace Max Scherzer in the rotation after his blockbuster trade to the Texas Rangers before MLB’s Tuesday deadline.
“I think you could probably figure out the candidates,” he said prior to Sunday’s series finale against the Washington Nationals.
As it stands, the Mets have a trio of arms that could step in for the vacant spot in the starting stable — next scheduled to go on Thursday in Kansas City against the Royals — with Tylor Megill and southpaws David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi as fill-in choices.
Peterson is the only one currently in the majors after being moved to the bullpen earlier this month and the merry-go-round concerning his role could very well continue to spin.
After being told that he’d start the year in Triple-A, spring-training issues with Jose Quintana (rib surgery) and Justin Verlander (shoulder injury), forced both Peterson and Megill into the starting rotation.
In 11 starts, Peterson went 2-7 with a 6.46 ERA and 67 hits allowed in 54.2 innings. Since his move to the bullpen, he has yielded two runs on eight hits in six innings of work across five appearances with six strikeouts and three walks.
“Pete is still available,” Showalter said. “Pitching [Sunday] would not preclude him from being an option for that timeframe so we’ll see. There’s always something that could happen between now and Aug. 1 at six o’clock.”
Megill continued to regress in the majors this season, going 6-4 with a 5.17 ERA and a career-worst 1.668 WHIP. A demotion to Triple-A has not helped as he owns an 8.67 ERA in six starts with Syracuse.
There was an inkling of promise shown on Saturday night, though, when he surrendered just two runs on three hits with six strikeouts and just one walk.
“Good to see Tylor have a good outing for the most part,” Showalter said. “We were watching it… It looked more like him stuff-wise and everything, the shape of his pitches. It was good to see all this positive stuff for Tylor last night. He’s one of the candidates.”
Unnamed by Showalter but still an option is Lucchesi, although he has also struggled mightily as of late in Syracuse. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed 16 runs on 17 hits and 10 walks compared to just 10 strikeouts.
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