DENVER — Taylor Miguel pitched two back-to-back pitches for the Mets earlier this month providing optimism that he was ready to help this Mets cycle.
Things have gone badly for the starting right-hander since then.
Megill’s worst score of the season came on Sunday when he allowed six runs, four of them earned, on 10 hits and two runs on four innings pitched in the Mets’ 11-10 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field.
Megill got a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning, but allowed four runs in the bottom of the frame before removing him on 81 pitches.
The Rockies scored two unearned runs against Megill in the second inning after he hit a throw by Pete Alonso covering first base.
“He’s been racing a lot better and I think he’s in a good place,” said manager Buck Showalter. “I will try, if I can, to get this out of the way because you are trying to learn from it.”
Showalter suggested that fatigue might be a problem for Miguel at the altitude.
“When you get that many pitches per inning, you’re throwing more than 20 pitches, you’re going to get a little tired and it shows,” Showalter said.
Miguel isn’t sure fatigue was a factor.
“I was still attacking batters and moving forward and so on,” Miguel said. “I wasn’t going to get knocked out at certain moments in the game, I just tried to be a little bit tough, picking places where I could throw some pitches. I don’t think I was really that tired.”
Megill opened the Mets’ road trip with his shortest start of the season, a 3²/₃-inning outing against the Cubs in which he allowed six runs, four of which were earned.
He played better in wins over the Nationals and Rays and lowered his ERA to 3.88 in the process.
That number jumped to 4.67 over his last two appearances.
“We think we got him to play well,” Showalter said. “I would feel even more frustrated by it if it happened in his next round. I will try to be fair to these guys. Many good shooters have suffered [at Coors Field] a little.”
