BALTIMORE — Tylor Megill will start Saturday for the Mets, another beneficiary of the trade deadline selloff that resulted in Max Scherzer going to Texas and Justin Verlander heading back to Houston.
“Two weeks ago, the last thing he would have thought was that he would start a game in the big leagues again this year, but he did what he was supposed to do,’’ manager Buck Showalter said of Megill, who was sent back to Triple-A Syracuse on June 22 after a bad start in Houston bumped his ERA up to 5.17.
Despite struggling in four of his six outings with Syracuse, Megill is back with the Mets and is coming off a solid start in his last appearance.
“If you look at the numbers — not necessarily his stats, but the peripheral [numbers] — you get a true look at the difference,’’ Showalter said before the Mets’ 10-3 blowout loss to the Orioles. “I’m anxious to see if it plays up here. For a month and a half last year, he was as good a pitcher as there was in baseball — in the National League, anyway.”
Megill had a strong April for the Mets a year ago, but has been mostly ineffective since then. He will follow another young pitcher, David Peterson, in the rotation. Peterson started against the Orioles on Friday and tossed three shutout innings, limited to 52 pitches because of a pitch count, in the Mets’ 10-3 loss.
Showalter called Peterson’s performance “a good step.”
“People want to talk about Max and Verlander aren’t here, but I guarantee you there are a couple guys pitching the next two nights that are happy about it,” Showalter said. “They’d like to have them here.”
Brandon Nimmo returned after he missed three straight games with left quad tightness that first occurred during batting practice prior to the game Tuesday at Kansas City.
He went 0-for-1 with two walks and was removed for pinch-hitter Danny Mendick in the eighth inning. Showalter said that was done to “be on the safe side. He’s protecting it, but so far, so good.”
Nimmo will continue to be day-to-day.
“It’s not gonna look real good for a while, but they think he’ll get better every day,’’ Showalter said.
Starling Marte was also back in the lineup for the first time since July 16.
The outfielder has recovered from the lingering effects of migraines that sidelined him for several weeks.
The migraines were just the latest health issue that plagued Marte, who underwent groin surgery in the offseason.
After Marte went 0-for-4, Showalter said he was “rusty” from not having played in a while.
The Mets will wait to see how he bounces back Saturday before determining whether he’ll be in the lineup again.
Marte has been much less productive than a year ago, but the Mets are without Mark Canha and Tommy Pham, who were traded away this week, so they need Marte to be back in the outfield regularly.
The Mets claimed right-handed reliever Tyson Miller off waivers from the Dodgers. Miller was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
The 28-year-old pitched in one game for the Dodgers this season after he appeared in seven games with the Brewers.
He has spent parts of three seasons in the majors.
Tim Locastro started a rehab assignment on Friday in the Florida Complex League.
The outfielder has been out since April with a sprained thumb.