Photo by MMO’s Ed Delany

It was the worst of times for David Peterson, it was the best of times for Tylor Megill.

Thanks to the additions of Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt this offseason, the Mets now boast a pretty scary and stacked starting rotation heading into 2022.

As a result, it has left both Peterson and Megill on the outside looking in, with both pitchers effectively having to slug it out for the sixth rotation spot in spring training.

Or, if Taijuan Walker isn’t ready for the start of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his right knee, then either Peterson or Megill will be called up to round out the rotation.

Either way, there’s fierce competition for that depth rotation spot and, as such, today’s second spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals was an early opportunity for both pitchers to plea their case to new Mets manager Buck Showalter, who was given plenty of food for thought.

Starting the game was Peterson who endured an injury-ravaged 2021 season, going 2-6 in 15 starts with a 5.54 ERA, and it proved to be a tough afternoon on the mound for the leftie.

Facing what was a strong Cardinals lineup, the 26-year-old gave up four earned on five hits, and walked one with one strikeout.

After walking Paul Goldschmidt and then giving up a single to Tyler O’Neill, Peterson was then shelled for a three-run homer by Dylan Carlson, giving the Cardinals a first inning lead. He fared better in the second, giving up a single to Edmundo Sosa but limiting the damage in the box score.

However, Peterson began the third by giving up a solo home run to Goldschmidt, and his work for the day was done heading into the fourth, with Megill getting his first run out of spring training.

Megill entered the game looking to build off what was an impressive first taste of the majors last season, coming out of nowhere to cement his place in the rotation, pitching to a 4.52 ERA in 18 starts.

And it was a good start to the outing for Megill who began by retiring his first two batters and, while he did walk Andrew Knizner, he was able to get out of the inning unscathed. The top of the fifth did spell some trouble for the 26-year-old as a walk and a bloop single put two on base, but a superb play in the field by Francisco Lindor and a liner to Travis Jankowski by Harrison Bader ensured that Megill escaped the fifth without inflicting any more damage on his team.

Megill looked sharp in his third inning of work, striking out Anderson Tejeda and Jordan Walker back-to-back, although he walked a batter with two out for the second time after walking Ivan Herrera. With his pitch count at 50, Megill was able to force a grounder to end the inning and he finished his afternoon with three solid scoreless innings.

He also touched 97 MPH on his fastball and, after having a 94.6 MPH fastball average last season, that is certainly a promising sign for the Mets heading into the regular season.

It was a good day of work from Megill, who struck out three and gave up just two hits, and he told the SNY broadcast shortly after getting off the mound that he was happy to be back, and is hungry for more after an impressive first season in the majors in 2021.

“It felt great to be back,” Megill said. “Good to see fans again and just a good time, glad to be back on the mound throwing again. Once you get a taste, you never want to leave so it definitely increases your intensity with training and I guess just staying after it.”

Megill’s impressive outing certainly caught the eye of his new manager, Buck Showalter, who no doubt would have been pleased with what he saw from the righty on Sunday.

“I like the presentation, the whole body language,” Showalter said. “I have got a lot of people telling me about him and they have more experience with him and I lean on that, but he’s pretty athletic for a big guy. I’d be pretty picky not to say that’s what they look like.”

It is advantage Megill heading into the second week of spring training and, with things ramping up, the battle for that sixth rotation spot is going to be a fascinating one to watch here on out.