Back in spring training, when the New York Mets’ key starters—Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, and Paul Blackburn—were sidelined due to injury setbacks, Tylor Megill earned a final spot in the rotation, and he didn’t blow the opportunity to be the Mets’ reliable arm. The 29-year-old grabbed it, putting up an impressive set of numbers until April.

Megill had a sharp 1.73 ERA in April that showed he was a solid presence in the Mets’ pitching staff. However, May brought a decline, when his ERA shot up to 5.96. It got back to 4.91 in June, but in Saturday’s outing against the Tampa Bay Rays, Megill struggled with his command again, leading to a blunt assessment from manager Carlos Mendoza.

The right-hander gave up six runs, three earned, on seven hits across just 3.2 innings. And eventually, the Mets were handed a tough 8-4 loss at Citi Field. Post-game, Mendoza reflected on Megill’s performance and he didn’t sound pleased.

“I feel like he was fine for the first time through the order. Then in the fourth inning, even with the first and third, he gets a strikeout, and then we don’t make a play,” the manager said.

The Mets had a 2-1 lead in the beginning of the fourth inning when Megill allowed a solo home run to the Rays’ Junior Caminero. He also pitched to Jake Mangum and gave up a single to Matt Thaiss. It led runners on the corners. And eventually, the Mets exited the inning with 6-2.

“I feel like there were a lot of non-competitive pitches, especially the secondaries… He lost it there, pretty much,” Mendoza further added.

Megill had a rough outing against the Rays and it was only natural that Mendoza was a bit blunt with his assessment. Now, heading into Sunday’s game, the Mets can’t afford to be swept away by the Rays again.

While Mendoza expects a better performance, Megill himself is looking for course correction.

Tylor Megill breaks down the Mets’ collapse against the Rays

Tylor Megill had one of the worst outings of this season against the Tampa Bay Rays. And he knows where it all went wrong. He gave up a solo home run to Caminero and admitted later that he lost the feel for the slider against the lefties. To his belief, “it was probably the hit-by pitch.”

Megill owned up to the times in the game where he made mistakes and mishandled the ball. Even though the ball was slick from the wet field, he didn’t use it as an excuse.

“Didn’t have a feel for the slider, especially coming in on the backfoot on the lefties. After that, made some good, quality pitches, sinker down and away, found a hole up the middle. The slider fell in short. Then a couple of walks, then a hung slider. By then, kinda ran up and was taken out. I should get my hand into my glove, secure it instead of trying to flip it into my hand,” he further added.

Megill was, however, not the only Mets player who made a costly mistake in the game. During the sixth inning, the reliever Adrian Houser, who replaced Castillo, made a miscue as well. And, that error also led to a run. So overall, it wasn’t a great outing for the Mets as the Rays capitalized on their defensive miscues quite effectively and ended up winning the game.