Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full-time on the beat. NEW YORK -- In a sport full of jargon, one of the most common baseball terms out there is “stuff.” It’s a word of ambiguous meaning that old-time scouts and modern-day analysts all use. The zip on a fastball, the snap on a slider, the tumble on a changeup -- these are all examples of stuff. With advances in pitch-tracking technology, we now have the ability to quantify stuff, which makes it easier to identify whose is best. This isn’t just anecdotal anymore. Fangraphs, for example, formulated a metric called Stuff+, which factors in things like velocity, release point, vertical and horizontal movement, and spin rate. |
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Based on those measures, the best stuff on the Mets belongs to Tylor Megill. Among all Major Leaguers with at least 20 innings, Megill ranks sixth, ahead of names like Garrett Crochet, Zack Wheeler and Paul Skenes.
“[Manager Carlos Mendoza] preaches, ‘Your stuff’s good, just attack hitters,’” Megill said after his last start. “Obviously, it’s been showing.”
This might not surprise some of Megill’s longtime advocates, including Mendoza and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who’s talked up Megill’s stuff for years. But several new factors have been at play throughout Megill’s strong start to the season. One is that he’s remodeled two of his pitches, his curveball and changeup, in hopes of making them more competitive. He’s also leaned more heavily on his sinker -- a pitch he introduced midway through last season -- and all but scrapped his splitter. The curveball and sinker, in particular, rate better than they have in the past. Two is that Megill has been able to maintain his velocity deeper into starts. Although the right-hander has always been tougher to face when his fastball rests in the upper 90s, he hasn’t always been able to keep it there. Back in 2022, Megill’s four-seamer dropped an average of nearly 2 mph from the first through sixth innings of his starts. Megill also pointed to the increased “vert” on his fastball, which gives it more of a rising sensation to hitters. |
Finally, Megill feels he has better command of his entire arsenal. His changeup and sinker are big parts of that, as pitches Megill trusts he can throw for strikes at any time. He previously didn’t have such fallback options. “He knows his stuff is good, especially when it’s in the strike zone,” Mendoza said. “He [has] life, hop, whatever you want to call it. I just feel like now he knows when he’s in the strike zone, his stuff plays.” Megill's success hasn’t been limited to the small sample size of this season. Since Megill returned to the rotation last August, he has produced a 1.78 ERA in 11 starts, with underlying numbers -- particularly a strikeout rate of 10.6 per nine innings -- that support his success. This might just be who Megill is now -- the type of pitcher Mets officials believed he could be all along. |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Edwin Díaz struck out his 456 and 457th batters Wednesday to move into fifth place all-time among Mets relievers. Who’s first? A) Jeurys Familia B) John Franco C) Jesse Orosco D) Tug McGraw |
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GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER |
Barring something unexpected, the Mets will activate second baseman Jeff McNeil (strained left oblique muscle) and catcher Francisco Alvarez (recovery from hamate bone surgery) prior to Friday’s series opener against the Nationals. That will have ripple effects throughout the 26-man roster. To get one thing out of the way, Alvarez should return to his role as starting catcher despite Luis Torrens’ success behind the plate. Whenever he’s been asked about the situation, Mendoza has replied, “Alvy’s our guy,” confirming the Mets want Alvarez to start most games behind the plate. Torrens will still play once or twice a week with the potential for more time if Alvarez struggles. But the Mets first want to give Alvarez every chance to succeed. As for McNeil, the situation is a bit more complicated, if only because he’s capable of playing multiple positions. President of baseball operations David Stearns said McNeil should fill the same type of role he always has, starting many days at second base but also shifting to the outfield when necessary. That could include center, with Jose Siri set to miss another six to eight weeks due to a broken bone in his left leg. McNeil’s return will marginalize both Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña, though the latter still has a path to playing time given his defensive versatility and baserunning acumen. Feel-good story Hayden Senger also appears ticketed for the Minors. For more on the situation, check out this story. |
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B) John Franco Franco struck out 592 batters over 14 seasons (1990-2004), which remains the Mets’ reliever record. |
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