Next year, perhaps it would be safer for the Mets to just pencil in Tylor Megill to make an important start out of the gate.
A year ago, injuries to Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer caused both right-handers to miss time, and Megill was called upon to start Opening Day and pitched five shutout innings in a win at Washington.
This spring, it was Justin Verlander who went down with an injury, forcing him to miss not just his first scheduled start in Miami, but Friday’s home opener, as well.
With the Mets finally playing in Queens after beginning the season with two road series followed by a postponement due to an inclement forecast on Thursday, Megill will get yet another start in the spotlight.
“It’s gonna be exciting,’’ Megill said before leaving Milwaukee on Wednesday. “I experienced the home opener last year and it was crazy. I’m hoping it’s the same thing this year.”
And he’s looking forward to the added spotlight.
“I love the atmosphere,’’ Megill said of Citi Field. “It’s very vibrant. It’s a very exciting atmosphere, to say the least.”
Citi Field is also not a bad place to pitch.
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“It’s a pitchers’ park, so you can’t complain,’’ Megill said. “You throw the ball over the plate and let them hit it out there.”
That’s not necessarily the strategy Verlander likely would have had if he were making the start, as the Mets had planned before Verlander felt discomfort in his last outing.
The Queens faithful will have to wait at least a bit longer before they see Verlander join Scherzer atop the Mets rotation after Verlander was diagnosed with a teres major strain, near his right armpit, that sent him to the injured list.
Though a subsequent MRI showed decreased swelling in the area, the Mets will turn again to Megill, 27, to face the Marlins.
Megill gave up a pair of runs in five innings in Miami in his season debut last Saturday.
Megill was better at home than on the road last season for the Mets.
In six outings — four starts — at Citi Field, the right-hander had a 4.37 ERA, while he had a 5.84 ERA in nine games — five starts — away from home.
He’ll now be tasked not just with pitching the Mets’ first game at Citi Field this season, but trying to help the team bounce back after being swept by the Brewers in Milwaukee — twice in blowout losses and the third in walk-off fashion.
Megill got off to a bit of a shaky start in Miami, calling his first two innings “erratic.”
Having just been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to fill in for Verlander, Megill settled in after allowing a two-run homer to Nick Fortes in the second inning.
Those were the only runs he allowed, although Megill needed 93 pitches to finish the five innings.
“Early on, it could have gone the other way and I would have been out by the third inning,’’ said Megill, who was supposed to fly back to New York early in the day on Wednesday, but after multiple delays ended up on the team charter.
With Thursday’s postponement, Megill will have plenty of time to get ready for his second start of the season.
— Additional reporting by Mike Puma