Reports indicate the New York Mets will be sending right-handed starting pitcher Tylor Megill down to Triple-A Syracuse. For the moment, this leaves the Mets rotation with four starters.

As previously reported, the Mets intend to call-up right-handed reliever Vinny Nittoli from Syracuse. Nittoli should provide the Mets bullpen with extra depth. However, when the Mets need another starter, another move will need to be made.

On our parent site, MMO, Christian De Block made the case Joey Lucchesi should join the Mets rotation. Notably, Lucchesi is the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week. In eight Triple-A starts, he is 5-1 with a 2.33 ERA, 1.058 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, and an 8.7 K/9.

In terms of Megill, he has really struggled this season. That has especially been true over his past six starts.

Over that stretch, Megill is 1-2 with a 7.56 ERA, 2.120 WHIP, 5.8 BB/9, and an 8.3 K/9. Over this stretch, he has averaged just 4 1/3 innings per start.

Examine his page over at Baseball Savant, the only area where Megill seems to be thriving is arm extension. Obviously, the main issue we see with Megill is his control.

His fastball is over a MPH slower than it was last season. It’s the same with his slider. Notably, the spin profiles are the same. Overall, we see batters not swinging and missing against Megill’s fastball leading to much of his struggles this season.

Turning back to Lucchesi, he had a dominant first start with the Mets and tapered off from there leading him to be sent back down to Syracuse. As noted above, he’s been strong since his demotion, and he’s forcing his way back up to the majors.

The hope is Megill can similarly rebound in Triple-A the way Lucchesi has. If so, we could see Megill back up in the majors before season’s end.