Who replaces Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker if one is not ready for Opening Day?

New York Mets v Washington Nationals
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Taijuan Walker may not be ready for Opening Day due to his ongoing recovery from knee surgery. Elbow surgery could also have the same result for Carlos Carrasco. These two New York Mets starting pitchers would be wise to ease into the 2022 season rather than rush out there and struggle or get even more hurt.

If one isn't ready, the Mets won’t try to get creative and go with a four-man rotation or ask an opener to fill in—at least I hope not.

Instead, the Mets will turn to one of their starting pitching depth pieces. Who is the best option?

Tylor Megill is a great guess for the Mets Opening Day roster to replace Carlos Carrasco or Taijuan Walker

Put Tylor Megill at the top of the list right now to replace any injured pitcher. Megill pitched well last year and he is seemingly fully healthy and ready to go whenever the Mets need him. I’m sure you could even find some Mets fans out there who would prefer Megill over Carrasco and/or Walker regardless of health concerns. They also want Wally Backman to manage the team and think Carlos Beltran is the worst player in franchise history.

Megill isn’t a half-bad option for most team’s rotations in the number five slot. His 4-6 record and 4.52 ERA is decent for the final man in line on an average ball club. The Mets are hoping to be much better than that in 2022.

On a temporary basis, the Mets should absolutely give Megill a chance to pitch. He earned it.

His future with the team, though, might have him going on a different path. Unless the organization is already aiming to turn him into a future high-leverage reliever, expect him to provide this year’s club with rotation depth.

New York Mets v Washington Nationals- Game One
New York Mets v Washington Nationals- Game One / Mitchell Layton/GettyImages

David Peterson is the second-best option to start for the Mets

David Peterson was the 2020 version of Megill. A member of the rotation for a good portion of the 2021 season, an injury knocked him out for the rest of the season. Only because he’ll need to prove his own health does it not make much sense for the Mets to turn to him first in their time of need.

Now 116.1 innings into his big league career, Peterson is 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA. It’s tough to judge what he can be. The 3.44 ERA is more than two runs lower than the 5.54 he has last year. So which is it? Are you a viable big league starter or someone who gets games only out of need?

Peterson may have a tough time getting chances to prove himself all over again. Already bumped from the expected starting five, he has Megill to compete with. It’s not something entirely new for him nor is the position he’s in right now. Like many rookies, he first made the Mets roster in 2020 because the team was short on arms due to an injury then opt-out from Marcus Stroman.

All things equal, I think both management and fans would prefer to see Megill get the nod over Peterson. That’s not to say things could change quickly based on performance. They’re close to equal.

With the possibility of the Mets needing to replace two starters immediately, perhaps there's no competition for the Opening Day roster. And how they perform at the big league level during any period of time could shift how the front office feels when the need arises again.

New York Mets v Miami Marlins
New York Mets v Miami Marlins / Michael Reaves/GettyImages

Jordan Yamamoto and the field of possible Mets starting pitchers

Jordan Yamamoto would lead the charge from the rest of the field to get some starts. Trevor Williams, the team’s expected long man out of the bullpen, could be considered an option but it’s probably better to not go there unless needed.

The Mets have enough arms with big league experience, a spot on the 40-man roster, and option years left for them to not use Williams for a limited time. What happens when the next game they need him for a lot more?

Along with Yamamoto, Sean Reid-Foley and Yennsy Diaz are two options. The Mets seemed to prefer using those two as relievers last season so for either to even get a chance to start in the big leagues or Triple-A seems slim.

Waiting on the IL, the Mets have Joey Lucchesi and Thomas Szapucki. I’m only noting them for future considerations. Neither would get a spot on the Mets Opening Day roster. Both will need to rehab first.

Given the choices, Yamamoto appears to be third in line or maybe even ahead of Peterson. Both suffered injuries last year and we have to question the health of both.

The Mets can survive missing Carrasco and Walker for some time. However, trouble begins to brew once another arm goes down—an issue for all major league teams when their depth starts to grow shallow.

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