After going two innings with three strikeouts against the St. Louis Cardinals in his spring training debut last week, Tylor Megill built upon his solid first outing by tossing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts while giving up only two hits against the Houston Astros’ star-studded lineup on Thursday night. From start to finish, Megill was nothing short of stellar, punching out José Altuve and Yordan Álvarez to end his final inning of work.

When he was asked what worked for him in this outing, Megill offered a confident and humorous reply.

“Everything, I’d say,” he said.

Photo by Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Megill’s excellent performance comes at an opportune time as the competition for the final rotation spot has opened up a bit with the recent injuries suffered by Kodai Senga and Max Kranick. He is vying for a place on the Opening Day roster alongside Joey Lucchesi and José Buttó. Like Megill, Buttó has looked impressive in a small sample thus far, accumulating two scoreless innings in his sole spring training start.

Each spring training outing is incredibly significant for Megill in his quest for a role in the majors. While players who are all but guaranteed to make the team may have leeway in spring training that allows them to test out certain grips and pitches, Megill’s unique circumstances require him to be as sharp as possible in each appearance.

Despite that, Megill is working with and adjusting to a revamped repertoire of pitches. Specifically, he has employed a splitter that takes inspiration from teammate Kodai Senga’s “ghost forkball.” Megill was encouraged by his results with the pitch against the Astros, stating that live game action has contributed to him “getting more feel” about how he can utilize it. In addition, he noted that he was able to deceive both Victor Caratini and Altuve with his new wrinkle in its limited usage.

Manager Carlos Mendoza, who certainly plays a factor in who will win the final rotation spot competition, was cautious yet optimistic in his praise of Megill’s outing.

“The early results are there,” he said. “This is a guy that worked really hard in the offseason.”

Mendoza acknowledged not only Megill’s results but his work ethic as well, which reflects positively on the strides he has made as well as the impression he has left on his new manager thus far in spring training.

Overall, Megill’s showing is an encouraging sign for the Mets as they set themselves up to make difficult decisions regarding the Opening Day roster.