Mets rotation plans against the Phillies: Tylor Megill, Kodai Senga, David Peterson

There’s little time to digest what happened on Thursday night between the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers. A day off on Friday (remember days off?) will allow the Mets to regroup and fly into Philadelphia to take on the Phillies in a best of five series. With the new series comes a reconstructed roster and some decisions to make about the rotation.

Due to the peculiar nature of the MLB playoffs, pitching staffs work much differently. Someone will go on short rest if it means giving their team the best chance to win. Others might get left behind and go a long period without pitching at all.

The Mets are already mulling over their options. The leading candidate to start on Saturday is Tylor Megill.

Tylor Megill has a chance to be an unlikely Mets playoff hero

Left off the NL Wild Card roster, Megill happens to be the freshest arm available for the Mets. His eating of innings on Monday allowed the Mets to save Luis Severino for Game 1 against the Brewers. This week, he was a bit of an unsung hero.

He won’t be so unsung on Saturday if he does indeed get the nod. Going into Philadelphia is never easy. Doing it toe-to-toe versus Zack Wheeler doesn’t help matters much either. Megill’s ideal role would be to replace Max Kranick on the roster as the long man. However, it seems like the Mets will need him for much more.

Kodai Senga is the surprise consideration for the Mets NLDS roster

Dropped before midnight, reports of Kodai Senga being a possibility for the NLDS roster surfaced. 

Senga only pitched one regular season game for the Mets. A year which saw him spending more time rehabbing than anything else, it would be a bold yet reasonable decision to bring him along on the active roster.

How deep into the game Senga could actually go would be the biggest question. Pitch him until he is drained completely? Any sort of Senga start would probably require the Mets to have David Peterson available in the chamber behind him.

Hats off to David Peterson for closing out Game 3

David Peterson should be the Game 1 starter for the Mets against the Phillies. Alas, they needed him to close out Game 3 after Edwin Diaz had already been used up. Peterson won in Milwaukee last Sunday to help make the doubleheader on Monday a win-one-and-you’re-in situation for the Mets. Because of the timing, he became only a bullpen option for the Mets in the Wild Card round. They didn’t need him until the final three outs.

Having Peterson piggyback off of a round through the Phillies lineup wouldn’t be such a bad idea for the Mets to explore. When would they need this to happen? By the time we get to Sunday’s Game 2, Severino will be on regular rest and so will the rest of the rotation. The Mets would probably prefer to skip using Megill in more than one start. If they’re able to win the first game, they can get a little cuter in the second and give the starters the extra rest and push everyone back a game to give them a full week’s rest. Lose the opener, the Mets lose some of the rationale to think too creatively until they absolutely need to.