Tylor Megill was rolling along in a recent start until he committed the kind of mistake that the best pitchers just don’t make. He started an inning by hitting a batter with his first pitch of the at-bat. Upon returning to the dugout, Megill heard the criticism.
With a direct tone after the inning, New York Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told him, “That’s not what aces do.”
It was just the message Megill wanted to hear.
In spring training, Megill instructed Hefner, who typically carries a calming disposition, to show some tough love.
“If I was pitching like s—,” Megill said, “I wanted him to yell at me.”
Nobody is screaming at Megill. He brings a sparkling 1.74 ERA (six starts, 31 innings) into his outing Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Among pitchers with at least 30 innings, Megill ranks among MLB’s top 20 in ERA, strikeouts-minus-walks rate (20.6 percent), batting average against (.197) and fWAR (1.2).
Tylor Megill has a different mindset on the mound this season. Instead of trying to be perfect, he’s letting it fly. (Elsa / Getty Images)
In previous years, Megill delivered successful first months but failed to parlay them into anything more. This could be a breakthrough.
“Totally different guy,” he says.
Megill needs to keep proving it. For as much as the Mets want to help the pitchers they acquire reach their potential, they need to develop some of their own. Megill, an eighth-round pick out of Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School in 2018, has long tantalized with impressive “stuff” — big velocity, movement. Now he’s also producing results after making significant changes.
Megill epitomizes all that’s working on the pitching side for the Mets, who own MLB’s best ERA (2.68). He was an early adopter of the pitching lab. He added a new pitch, a sinker, midway through last season while working with assistant pitching coordinator Grayson Crawford. He’s pitching smarter, with more conviction. It’s all connected.
“The sinker has allowed me to open up a whole other side of the plate,” Megill said. “Now, batters can’t lean out over — they have to be aware of the inside. They’re not able to be that comfortable.”
Megill is coming off his best start. Against the Washington Nationals on Sunday, he racked up nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs, three hits and one walk. He threw 105 pitches. Not clearly evidenced in the box score: Megill was in firm control throughout the outing, challenging batters with fastballs in the strike zone that they couldn’t do much with. He no longer tried to be perfect, a habit that was once his greatest hindrance. Instead, Megill is just letting it fly with his stuff.
“He doesn’t have to do that in just an 8-0 game,” Hefner said, referencing the game against Washington when the Mets built an early lead. “He can do that in a 0-0 game because that’s how good his stuff is.”
It’s a different mindset on the mound for Megill. He also changed the way he thinks off the field.
Megill wants Hefner to hold him accountable because he has visions of grandeur. He envisions himself becoming an ace. He’s grown tired of being optioned back and forth from the minor leagues. Over the past couple of offseasons, he has noticed the number of free-agent pitchers that the Mets have signed. He’d prefer to stick around as a key contributor. A couple of weeks ago after a start, he said, “It’s a great time to be a Met right now.”
That goes for the future, too, he says.
“I want to be here, I want to stay,” Megill said. “There are a lot of positive things going on here in the future. And with the way we’re playing right now, it’s only going to keep looking up for the Mets organization.”
Megill, 29, entered this season holding just one minor-league option year left. He still has two more arbitration years before becoming a free agent. In the offseason, Megill and Hefner talked a few times. The message was simple: It’s time to actualize potential. But Megill mostly came to the realization on his own.
“That’s a real thing you have to work through, but as much as you can, ignore that and just really focus on what you can control, and that’s being nasty, holding yourself to a high standard,” Hefner said. “Holding his feet to the fire from my end, trying to do a better job of that to help him reach his potential.”
(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)