Some good news Friday for two of the Mets’ injured hurlers.
In terms of short-term returns, RHP Tylor Megill threw a bullpen session on Thursday, the next step in his return from biceps tendinitis that has had him on the IL since May 12.
Megill threw on flat ground Monday, and told Zach Braziller of the New York Post Friday that he “felt good” after Thursday’s bullpen. The righty, who had a 2.43 ERA in his first seven starts before a pre-IL disaster against Washington, is eligible to return off the IL, but will make at least one rehab start before being activated, according to manager Buck Showalter.
Still, if he can make that start sometime next week, the Mets could have him back in the rotation at some point on their 10-game West Coast swing in early June.
As for the long-term, deGrom has moved his rehab to New York and threw at Citi Field Friday, the second time this week he has thrown, and he is now close to throwing bullpens according to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.
“The intensity is starting to climb now," Hefner told reporters Friday. "We want to have eyes on him as we progress towards bullpens, we want to make sure that all is well. Not that the people in Port St. Lucie can’t do that, but once he’s starting bullpens, then he can do that with me, we can get him into that routine and those sorts of things."
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Jon Heyman recently reported that a Mets source targeted late-June for a deGrom return, but Hefner wasn’t willing to put any timetable on even the next step, let alone a target return date.
"I don’t want to put timelines on anything, because it could go fast," Hefner said. "It could be four weeks. It could be 12 weeks. We have to see how his body reacts to it."
Megill began the season in the rotation due to deGrom’s injury, and with both of them plus Max Scherzer out, David Peterson and Trevor Williams are currently holding down the final two rotation spots behind Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker.
The top depth option behind them, until someone returns, is Thomas Szapucki, who allowed nine runs in 1 1/3 innings in a spot start Wednesday in San Francisco and was optioned back to Triple-A on Friday.
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