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

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.