Binghamton Rumble Ponies starting pitcher Tylor Megill throws against the Erie SeaWolves on May 22, 2021, at UPMC Park in Erie.

Like most organizations across the major leagues, the New York Mets have been dealing with their fair share of injuries through the first two and a half months of the regular season, however, the team’s starting pitching depth is about to be tested once again.

Already without starters Carlos Carrasco (torn hamstring) and Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery), the Mets entered this season with a few question marks at the backend of their starting rotation and weren’t 100 percent confident about the type of performances they’d receive from David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi. But luckily, each of them has fared pretty well up to this point, allowing the club’s pitching staff to be an area of strength in 2021.

With second baseman Jeff McNeil returning from the injured list on Monday, it seemed like this team was starting to turn a corner on all of these crushing injuries. Unfortunately, that optimism didn’t last very long. After undergoing an MRI, Lucchesi’s test results revealed he’d torn his UCL and will now require Tommy John surgery.

To make matters worse, Marcus Stroman exited his start in the second inning last night due to a hip injury. While the Mets are hoping that Stroman can avoid an IL stint, an already taxed bullpen had to cover eight innings in his absence and is now desperate for a reprieve.

Enter Tylor Megill.

After Tuesday night’s game, manager Luis Rojas announced that Megill would join the team on Wednesday to make his MLB debut. Megill, who was not previously on the 40-man roster, is someone who’s stood out amongst the group of talented minor leaguers in 2021 and has been knocking on the door to earn an opportunity to showcase his skills at the major league level.

While he is ranked as the team’s No. 21 top prospect according to MLB.com, that ranking doesn’t do the 25-year-old any justice, especially since most experts strongly believe he features a ton of upside.

Though the right-hander isn’t a finished product, he’s improved dramatically compared to when he was drafted out of the University of Arizona in eighth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Since Megill was solely utilized as a reliever in college, the former Wildcat occupied a similar role through his first two professional seasons, although he also spent some time as a starter during that same span.

Still, his experience was limited as he pitched in a short season following being drafted in 2018 and had a shoulder injury which kept him out for the first half of the 2019 campaign. Coming into this season, Megill only compiled 99 2/3 innings in the minor leagues.

Then came the league-wide shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the 6′ 7″ hurler to spend the entire 2020 campaign at the Mets’ alternate training site, although that proved to be a blessing in disguise. Using that unusual situation to further develop his craft, the soon-to-be 26-year-old made some key adjustments to his fastball and increased its velocity into the high-90s.

Thanks to his determination to improve, Megill received an invitation to spring training in 2021 but was limited to just one appearance after testing positive for COVID-19. Once the minor league season began, Megill was assigned to Double-A Binghamton and was provided an opportunity to exclusively work as a starter, allowing him to build off his success from last season.

Picking up exactly where he left off in 2020, the hard-throwing righty totaled 26.0 innings, producing an impressive 3.12 ERA, 1.66 FIP, 1.86 xFIP, .216 AVG, 40.4% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate, 58.5% GB rate (career-best), 22.6% FB rate and an 8.3% HR/FB rate over just five starts with the Rumble Ponies.

Rewarding him for his stellar performance, Megill was promoted to Triple-A at the beginning of this month and has made a trio of starts since then.

While he has found more success in Triple-A, Megill needed to refine his pitch selection to do so. After blowing away Double-A hitters with his “plus” four-seamer, the California native hasn’t been able to rely on just one pitch at this next level of competition, forcing him to increase the usage of his mid-80s slider and changeup.

With the towering hurler attempting to incorporate his secondary weapons significantly more at Triple-A, this adjustment period has slightly impacted his ability to induce high amounts of strikeouts and ground balls, causing him to record a 28.3% strikeout rate, an 8.3% walk rate, a 45.7% GB rate, a 31.4% FB rate and an 18.2% HR/FB rate through 14 1/3 innings.

But considering Megill has generated a 3.77 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 3.70 xFIP and a .204 AVG during that same span, and has also thrown at least five innings in each of his last two starts, it’s clear this in-between phase hasn’t prevented him from making a positive contribution to the Syracuse Mets.

While the young hurler would benefit from additional time in the minors, allowing him to continue developing his slider and changeup, there’s no denying the Mets are desperate to locate a fifth starter to help round out their rotation. Since there are very few internal arms to choose from, it makes plenty of sense that the Mets have decided to give Megill a chance to learn on the fly at the big league level.

If this experiment doesn’t prove to be effective, then management can easily send Megill back to Triple-A, where he can further improve his craft and hopefully become a more-rounded starter in the future.

Whether it is just for a spot start, or the beginning of a promising Mets career, it will be very interesting to see this rising prospect take the mound against the Atlanta Braves tonight, as New York looks to salvage a series split.