3 Mets players who need to step up in Jose Quintana's absence

3) NY Mets SP Tylor Megill has to stay healthy and productive

Tylor Megill is a player Mets fans are in love with but has been very inconsistent in his short time with the club. He started on Opening Day last season and gave the Mets five memorable scoreless innings. He was the best starting pitcher on the staff in April as he posted a 1.93 ERA.

Two starts into the month of May he allowed eight runs while recording just four outs in Washington and then he missed a month due to injury. Megill came back in June, made two starts, and then was on the shelf again until September.

Megill came back and was fine as a reliever. Overall I thought he looked great in the first month of the season, but wore down and dealt with a couple of injuries that derailed his season. The 5.13 ERA was not indicitive at all of how he pitched for a large majority of the games he played in.

Megill is battling with Peterson for the fifth starter spot right now, but my guess is he either ends up in the bullpen or more likely is sent to Syracuse as a starter and will be up in case of an emergency.

I don't want to be pecimistic, but the Mets have two pitchers at the end of their careers in Scherzer and Verlander. I'd be shocked if either of them made 30+ starts. They have Kodai Senga who has two seasons with over 150 innings pitched in Japan. The most recent one was in 2019. He's already dealing with a finger issue this spring. The likelihood he makes every start is low, and the Mets were already considering a six-man rotation.

The Mets have injury questions up and down the rotation, Megill is going to make a ton of starts for this team. The Mets need him to be available to take the ball when needed, and give them quality outings when called upon. We've seen him do it in spurts, they might need him for more than that in 2023.