Following the Mets’ disappointing 6-3 loss to the Twins on Tuesday night, manager Carlos Mendoza and players spoke about the game and other topics…
Tylor Megill’s start against Twins
Megill was on the mound for Tuesday’s game and was a victim of some tough luck. After scattering Twins hits for the first two innings, Minnesota would get on the board in the third thanks to a Francisco Lindor error.
He would allow two more runs and eventually take his second loss of the season, with an odd stat line that doesn’t necessarily tell the story of his start.
“Hard time getting ahead, strike one, deep counts, foul balls. Only a couple of balls were hit hard…just didn’t get ahead the way we wanted to,” Mendoza said of Megill’s performance after the game. “Gave us five [innings] and yea…”
“Don’t think it was terrible. Threw a lot of strikes, got a lot of groundballs. Got out of traffic early tonight,” Megill said assessing his start. “Trying to get groundballs, keep runners close. Thought I did a really good job of that.”
Megill echoed his skipper that he couldn’t keep his pitch count down thanks to being unable to get Twins hitters out, despite feeling he continued to attack the batters. The big right-hander said the Twins put together good at-bats especially later in the game, which doomed any opportunity of going more than five innings.
Although he didn’t walk a batter, Megill gave up four runs (two earned) on eight hits but could only strike out three batters.
Overall, Megill felt his start was productive despite the results. The lack of walks was brought up and Megill said he’d take that sort of performance every time.
“Nothing crazy, rather get singled to death,” Megill said. “Not like it’s damage, I’ll live with that all day.”
This is Megill’s second consecutive loss and his ERA rose to 1.40, which is qualified for eight-best in the majors so far this season.
Justin Hagenman call-up
With the news that Griffin Canning would miss his Wednesday start due to illness, the question of which pitcher would be called up to take his spot. Mendoza finally made the decision known after the game, and the 28-year-old right-hander is getting the call. However, the team isn’t sure what Hagenman’s role will be.
“The question now is if we’re going with an opener or we’ll give him the start,” Mendoza said.
When asked if Hagenman will be the long-man on Wednesday no matter what, Mendoza kept it coy and simply said the right-hander will be active.
Hangenman has made three appearances (two starts) with Triple-A Syracuse this year. He’s allowed eight earned runs on 15 hits and four walks over 10.1 innings pitched.
Luisangel Acuña an option in center?
With Jose Siri about to miss significant time with a fractured leg, the Mets have some question marks in their outfield.
While Tyrone Taylor will likely play center field the most in Siri’s absence, how will the Mets rotate their other outfielders? Mendoza spoke about the situation prior to Tuesday’s game.
“Tyrone, very comfortable with him playing center,” Mendoza said of his center field options. “[Brandon] Nimmo, Acuña if we have to.”
Mendoza was asked if Acuña is good in centerfield and the Mets skipper said the organization believes in the youngster’s abilities.
“The reports we got last year was he covers a lot of ground, we know the speed but routes and all that,” he explained. “I remember talking with Dick Scott, our Triple-A manager, and how he was impressed not just at short/second but in the outfield too.”
Now, Mendoza wouldn’t go as far as to start him there any time soon, but are preparing for it if they have to. Acuña
“If we get there, I’m comfortable,” Mendoza said. “In the meantime, we’re good with Tyrone.”
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