Tylor Megill shows promise as Mets pick up first win of 2025
Megill takes a big step in his first start of the year. Plus, excellent pitching, some clutch early hitting and Juan Soto's first home run help the Mets get up and running in Houston...
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets beat the Astros 3-1 on Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV to pick up their first win of the 2025 MLB season (box | highlights)
RHP Tylor Megill was impressive, allowing just one earned run on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts across five innings of work
RHP Reed Garrett entered the game in relief of Megill with two runners on and, despite issuing a walk, retired the side with two strikeouts and no hits allowed
Both LHP A.J. Minter - making his Mets debut - and RHP Ryne Stanek recorded hitless innings
RHP Edwin Díaz then entered the game in the ninth and looked dominant with a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to record his first save of the year
Offensively, both 3B Mark Vientos (double) and DH Jesse Winker (single) came up with clutch RBI hits in the top of the second to give the Mets a 2-0 lead
RF Juan Soto then added to that lead with a solo third inning bomb for his first official home run in a Mets uniform
2B Brett Baty made his first career MLB start at second, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout but made a tough defensive play in the fifth to help turn a 5-4-3 double play
SS Francisco Lindor went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, while the Mets finished 2-for-7 with RISP, leaving four runners stranded on base
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Paul Blackburn (knee inflammation) is expected to resume throwing on Sunday following a 7-10 day rest period
Plays of the Game ⭐️
As it is Opening Weekend, we’re going to be nice and give you two plays of the game for the price of one!
We can’t not start with Juan Soto blasting his first home run as a member of the New York Mets. Armed with a 2-0 lead, Soto stepped to the plate in the top of the third inning and sent a 96 mph cutter into deep right field. The solo shot left Soto’s bat at 107.3 mph, traveling 390 feet before bouncing back off the second deck facade.
Soto is now off the mark with his new team, and it will doubtless be the first of many, many, many homers the superstar hitter will blast in a Mets uniform.
However, arguably the more important play of the game— certainly the key defining point of the game— came in the eighth inning. With one out, a runner on first and slugger Yordan Alvarez up at the plate, the Astros had a chance to bring home the tying runs.
Luisangel Acuña was in the game at that point, having replaced Brett Baty as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. That decision would ultimately prove to pay off in a huge, huge way.
Alvarez proceeded to drive the ball into the hole for what would have been an RBI single. However, Acuña had other ideas, diving full length to make the stop before jumping up and making the throw to first to record the out. It was a huge run-saving play that effectively iced the game for the Mets. If Acuña continues to make stellar plays with the glove like that, we could be seeing a lot more of him throughout 2025.
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (1-1) at Astros (1-1)
Where: Daikin Park • Houston, TX
Starters: RHP Griffin Canning (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Spencer Arrighetti (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
When: 7:15 PM ET
Where to Watch: FOX
Tylor Megill shows a lot of encouraging stuff in first outing of 2025… ✍️
As opposed to Opening Day, a lot went right for the New York Mets in their second game of the 2025 MLB season.
Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos, and Jesse Winker all came up with some clutch hitting in the second to help get their team on the board.
Juan Soto delivered a moment all Mets fans have been waiting for all winter for with a bomb of a home run in the third.
Luisangel Acuña entered the game as a pinch-hitter but arguably saved the win with some outstanding defense late in the game.
The bullpen passed its first major test of the year as Garrett Reed, A.J. Minter, Ryne Stanek, and Edwin Díaz combined for four innings of scoreless ball with four strikeouts.
However, arguably the biggest and most important positive of the night was Tylor Megill’s outing on the mound.
Making his first start of the new season, the righty passed his first real test with flying colors and showcased the kind of ability that could make him an important piece of this rotation.
That filthy stuff was on full display early as he retired the first nine batters he faced. He was throwing strikes early, staying aggressive on the attack, and also being very efficient with his pitches.
Megill threw a strike on the first pitch to 11 of the 19 batters he faced, while finishing with a total of 49 strikes on 77 pitches. He relied on his fastball, sinker, and slider, but found the most success with his nasty slider.
As you can see from the above graphic, Megill threw his slider 17 times, generating nine swings and five whiffs. That’s pretty good. That pitch has the potential to be a really lethal weapon for Megill in 2025, particularly if he stays aggressive and works on getting to two strikes as fast as possible.
Megill did give up his only run of the night on a sac fly in the fourth inning, but he was able to get out of that inning with only the one run incurred despite giving up back-to-back singles. Then, in the sixth, Megill was very unlucky with a dropped third strike before another single brought his night to a close.
Still, the righty left the mound having given up just one earned run on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts. His stuff was working, his command was there, and it was as impressive a first start as Megill could have hoped for.
Of course, we have been here before. This is hardly the first time Megill has wowed us with a really encouraging outing. The problem is what comes next. The 29-year-old has long struggled with consistency, and that fatal flaw has been the driving force behind why he hasn’t morphed into a big-time arm at the top of the rotation. He certainly has the raw talent to be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.
What we saw on Friday night won’t really matter if Megill stinks in his next outing. Consistency now has to be the goal. Period.
But for right now, there was a hell of a lot to like about Megill’s first outing of 2025, and it was an important first step for both player and team this year.
Let’s see if he can now build on it.
Around the League 🚩
Marucci Sports has now replaced Louisville Slugger as MLB’s official bat (SBJ)
Mookie Betts had a two-homer night, including a three-run walk-off blast to help the Dodgers beat the Tigers, 8-5
Jack Leiter had a Friday night to remember, recording his first MLB career win after allowing just one run with one walk and four strikeouts in a 4-1 win against the Red Sox
Max Muncy - no, not that one - launched his first career MLB home run as the Athletics shutout the Mariners, 7-0
Jackson Holliday isn’t wasting any time in his second season after hitting his first home run of the year, although the Orioles fell to the Blue Jays, 8-2
Jake Cronenworth hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth to help the Padres beat the Braves for the second straight day
Good for Tyler. now his goal can be to get through 6 innings like he pitched yesterday.
Such an important start for Tyler. But you're spot on, Andrew: it's all about consistency. His stuff is ridiculous, but he needs to really find it to make the most of it.
One thing which really encourages me is the adjustment he made last year. In the early going, he was landing on the ball of his plant foot and trying to get everything to tumble over a stiff front leg. He even got into kind of a recoil effect at times which really brought his stuff up in the zone.
After he came back up last year, his plant foot was flat and he was able to get the ball down better. And this year, he's even a little lower, a little more into drop-and-drive, with his plant foot totally flat. The only recoil is a little hop to the left when he snaps off a slider instead of a bounce back in the opposite direction from the plate.
Hopefully, all that adds up to a simpler, more repeatable delivery and more consistency. Certainly none of the adjustments made any difference in his stuff. It's all right there.