Right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer was activated from the 15-day injured list and fellow right-handed pitcher Tylor Megill was activated from the 60-day injured list as part of a series of roster adjustments that the Mets announced before Monday’s game.
The team already had a slot available for Megill on their 40-man roster, but they needed to clear up two positions on their active roster in order to make room for him. To do this, they optioned right-handed pitcher Stephen Nogosek and left-handed pitcher Alex Claudio.
Scherzer Will Return After 15 Days On The IL
The fact that Scherzer will return after serving just the 15-day minimum on the injured list is undoubtedly a tremendous source of comfort for everyone associated with the Mets. At the beginning of the season, Scherzer was out for around six weeks owing to a strain in his left oblique.
More recently, it seemed that Scherzer had injured himself in the same region. Scherzer and the club referred to the issue as “fatigue” in the muscle, expressing their optimism that they had discovered the problem at an early stage.
They had expressed confidence that the righty may return after taking a little break on the IL, which has in fact come to fruition as a reality. When he has been able to pitch because he is healthy enough to do so.
The 38-year-old pitcher has been all the Mets could have hoped for when they signed him over the winter. After 20 starts, he has a record of 2.26 earned runs allowed, a strikeout rate of 30.6%, a walk rate of 4.6%, and a ground ball rate of 29.3%.
According to FanGraphs, even though he’s missed a significant amount of time, he’s still managed to rack up 4.1 wins above replacement, which places him 12th in the big leagues.
Rejoining The Rotation With The Likes of Jacob deGrom
Now that he’s fit again, he’ll be rejoining the rotation with the likes of Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, and Chris Bassitt. This is one of the few times this season that the team’s top five starters have all been available at the same time.
Considering that the Mets are currently clinging to the top place in the NL East while being just one game ahead of Atlanta in the standings, this has the potential to be a game-changer for the next two weeks of the schedule.
At the beginning of the season, when the Mets’ rotation was not at full strength due to injuries, they called on Megill to help fill in. In his first two starts, he did not allow a run, and from the beginning of April to the conclusion of the month, he maintained a stellar 1.93 earned run average (ERA).
Unfortunately, during the following several weeks, he took a lot of hits, and then in the middle of June, he was put on injured reserve with a right shoulder injury, and he didn’t return until Monday.
During that tough period, his earned run average for the season shot up to 5.01, although it is reasonable to ask whether the shoulder concerns were contributing to that number.
Over the course of the previous three weeks, he has been participating in minor league rehab in the form of single-inning relief outings.
Finishing Off
Although it has been stated in the past that the Mets want to move him back into a starting position for the next season, it seems like this will be his job for the remainder of the season.
Due to the fact that deGrom, Walker, Bassitt, and Carrasco all have options or opt-outs for the next season, there is a great deal of uncertainty over the rotation that will be used. Scherzer is the only one in the present group who is certain to return.