Mets' Tylor Megill undergoes Tommy John surgery
Mets' Tylor Megill looks on from the mound during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field on May 10. Credit: Jim McIsaac
CHICAGO – The 2025 Mets are taking body shot after body shot after falling out of a playoff spot for the first time since April 5, but the 2026 Mets took a little bit of a beating, too, Tuesday.
Tylor Megill underwent Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles Monday, essentially ruling the big righty out for next year as well, manager Carlos Mendoza announced. It’s the culmination of an incredibly uneven (and incredibly frustrating) season for Megill, who went down with an elbow sprain in mid-June and had to shut down his rehab when he experienced arm tightness while throwing his secondary pitches earlier this month.
Megill was one of the team’s best starters through the first month of the season, pitching to a 1.09 ERA in his first five outings, but struggled plenty before an MRI revealed the injury, compiling a 5.56 ERA in his last nine appearances. He’s under team control through 2027.
“You feel for the individual,” Mendoza said. “It’s going to be a while before he takes the mound again. We’re wishing him a quick recovery and obviously, we’ll miss him, especially when we’re talking about the depth, right?”
Megill’s injury is yet another chapter in a pitching saga that started like a dream and ended like a horror movie. Reed Garrett, too, may need Tommy John, though he’s getting further consultations, and the Mets have also lost Frankie Montas, AJ Minter, Danny Young, Dedniel Nunez, Griffin Canning and Max Kranick to season-ending injuries this year.
Despite two decent outings, Sean Manaea has struggled, and Tuesday’s starter, David Peterson, has been highly combustible since being named an All Star earlier this year. Going into his start against the Cubs, Peterson, who had a 2.49 ERA on June 11, has compiled a 6.36 ERA over his previous 10 starts.
What’s also not helping: The big lefty is a contact pitcher and the Mets’ defense has been nothing short of a liability – highlighted by the five errors and many miscues that helped doom this past three-game set against the bottom-feeding Nationals.
“You’re going to have mixed results throughout the year,” said Peterson after his last start – one where he allowed six runs over five innings in a loss to the Padres. “It’s obviously tough when you know what you’re capable of. Like I said, you’re going to go through times where it’s not going exactly how you want it, whether it’s baseball or whether it’s something that you’re not necessarily executing, but you can’t hold onto it. Look at it as objectively as possible and correct things that need to be worked on and move forward.”
Taylor nearing return
Tyrone Taylor (hamstring) went through a full-intensity workout Tuesday and could be activated Wednesday, Mendoza said. That gives the Mets a glut of outfielders in Taylor, Brandon Nimmo, Juan Soto, Cedric Mullins, Jose Siri, and occasionally Jeff McNeil.
“Obviously, we’ve got to make a decision,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to get through today and make sure TT is ready to go.”
Marte, who was relegated to mostly a bench role earlier in the season, started in left Tuesday with Nimmo in center for the first time this season. Marte batted seventh, and likely will be part of the equation Wednesday and Thursday as the Cubs throw lefties Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga. The veteran has also been one of the Mets’ most consistent outfield bats, slashing .279/.346/.425, including batting .355 over the nine-game hit streak he took into Tuesday.
“Marte feeling almost 100% here with the knee” that landed him on the injured list in July, Mendoza said. “We’ve been monitoring him and protecting him for a long time. We get to a point where he understands where we’re at and obviously understands that we might need him to go [start]… When you look at the season he’s having out of that role, he’s been pretty good.”
Extra bases
Jonah Tong will take the hill for the Mets Wednesday and Nolan McLean will pitch in the series finale Thursday…Kodai Senga threw live batting practice of about 45 pitches Tuesday, though Mendoza had yet to get the details of the outing by that afternoon. “Obviously, I’ll take a look, [pitching coach Jeremy Hefner] will take a look at the stuff and all that but we’ll wait on [Senga’s] opinion as well. If he feels like he cannot go, we’re not going to put him at risk. It’s always been that way with him where he’s going to provide us with information and what it feels like. We’ll make the last call but we’ll listen to him, too.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
