Megill joining team & could pitch vs. Halos
SAN DIEGO – Tylor Megill is on his way to the west coast to join the Mets. The right-hander flew to San Diego on Monday as he inches closer to his return from right biceps tendinitis. Megill is expected to be activated before the Mets take on the Angels this weekend, which is the last leg of their 10-game, 11-day road trip.
“He’s been good for a while,” Buck Showalter said of Megill. “Just trying to make sure he’s 100 percent.”
Though the Mets aren’t 100 percent committed on a start date for Megill, he is lined up to pitch on Saturday against the Angels. Showalter said Megill should be able to throw at least five innings in his first time back in the Mets rotation since May 11.
Megill’s first and only rehab outing with Double-A Binghamton took place on Sunday. He gave up two earned runs on three hits, permitted no walks, and recorded five strikeouts over 3.2 innings and 53 pitches. Outside of a first-inning home run, the other two hits that Megill surrendered came on soft contact.
“I feel ready to go,” Megill said on Sunday. “My arm feels great, body feels good . ... Everything is feeling natural right now.”
DODGEBALL
Brandon Nimmo was back in the lineup on Monday for the Mets’ series opener against the Padres after getting hit by a pitch during Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Dodgers.
He was hit by a Caleb Ferguson 95-mph fastball that drilled his right hand with two outs in the seventh inning. It was the same hand, and nearly the same location, on his right wrist that has been bothering him in the past week. The outfielder did not play against the Phillies last Saturday due to the wrist discomfort. But he doesn’t believe the hit by pitch on Sunday made the wrist injury any worse.
“We dodged a bullet there for sure,” Nimmo said on Monday. “I found a way to manage. It’s OK. I think it was hit half and half on the hand and the padding.”
Nimmo, who almost always sprints to first base even after getting hit by a pitch, was down on the ground for several moments in obvious pain. Showalter and a Mets trainer came out to check on the center fielder, but Nimmo soon stood up and took first base. After the seventh inning, Showalter came back out to check on Nimmo, who shooed him away and ran to the outfield to remain in the game.
“It’s been tough,” Nimmo said of playing through the injury. “Fortunately, this is the first kind of rough patch that I’ve gone through this year. .. I just wanna play. I love playing. I love being out here. The consistency is so key to being out here.”
DAVIS AT FIRST
Who’s on first? J.D. Davis. Davis was the starting first baseman, hitting sixth, for the Mets’ series opener against the Padres on Monday. First baseman Pete Alonso was the designated hitter.
Buck Showalter said he wanted to give Alonso a day off from being on his feet. The slugger has played in all 57 games for the Mets this season, including 42 starts at first base.
“[Joey] Cora and Buck have asked me what my thoughts are on first base, and I’m a little new over there, but I said I can go over there and catch the ball and do my part,” Davis said on Monday. “I think Pete was a little heavy on the legs yesterday so he needs a day for DH. It’s my part to step in and play first base.”
Davis has played 15 career games at first base, including eight starts. His most recent appearance at the corner position was in 2018 with the Astros. He walked into Petco Park about five hours before first pitch Monday, and that’s when bench coach Glenn Sherlock told Davis that he’d be starting at first.
Davis was expecting it. He spent the past two weeks working with Cora, the Mets third base and infield coach, taking ground balls and getting his work in at first base.