Mets Opening Day Starter Wasn't Even In Rotation Two Weeks Ago

When you come into spring training with one of the best starting staffs in all of baseball, but then your Opening Day starter is a pitcher who wasn't even in the rotation two weeks earlier, you can assume that something went wrong. 

That's the situation the New York Mets find themselves in just 24 hours before the start of the season. Tylor Megill has been named Opening Day starter. Make no mistake, Megill had a decent rookie season last year, but he literally wasn't in the rotation when camp opened. 

🎥 Tylor Megill discusses his Opening Day start for the Mets: pic.twitter.com/WsV2fFYn0K

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 6, 2022

Jacob deGrom, not only the presumed Opening Day starter, but generally regarded as the best pitcher in major league baseball, is out for about two months with a shoulder problem. That gave Megill the opening to at least enter the rotation. 

And just this past week, next-in-line for Opening Day, 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer had to push himself back to Game 2 of the season due to a hamstring issue. 

Earlier this spring, Megill told The New York Post about facing the real possibility of not being in the rotation, and maybe even heading to Triple-A, “Obviously it lingers in the back of my head, but I can’t let that get to me,” Megill said. “At the end of the day there is going to be a lot of pitching and there is going to be a lot of need for arms, so whenever my name is called I am going to be ready and just keep working.”  

Turns out, that hard work paid off.

Photo Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports