In what should be his last start of the season, Tylor Megill struggled against the Milwaukee Brewers. In 4.0 innings, he allowed a career high three homers while allowing four earned on five hits.

With the New York Mets 5-1, loss and the surging St. Louis Cardinals win, the Mets were officially eliminated from the Wild Card race. It’s only a matter of time before they’re mathematically eliminated from the NL East race.

Given that this once promising season is all but over, and really has been for some time now, it begs the question why Megill is even pitching. His previous career high in innings as a professional was 71.2.

That came back in 2019 before COVID changed everything. Instead of taking a step forward in 2020, Megill threw zero innings. Yes, there were workouts, but that’s not really the same.

When Megill was a somewhat surprising call-up, he had already thrown 40.1 innings. Shockingly, he’s thrown 84.2 innings in the majors alone. That’s 125.0 innings!

That puts him a staggering 53.2 innings above his career high. Again, that came two years ago. This is an extraordinary taxing of a promising pitcher’s arm. It’s no wonder we’ve seen him take a step back.

Through Megill’s first seven starts, he was 1-0 with a 2.04 ERA, 1.104 WHIP, and a 9.9 K/9. Through that point in his season, he had thrown 75.2 innings between the minors and the Mets.

That was roughly the equivalent of being one start past his career high in innings. Since that time, Megill has looked like a completely different pitcher.

Since that July 28 start, he’s made 10 additional starts to diminishing returns. Over this stretch, he’s 2-6 with a 6.75 ERA, 1.450 WHIP, and a 9.9 K/9. Batters are hitting .299/.349/.599.

Pennant race or not, his arm is done for the year. The only thing pitching him more frequently is stressing his arm thereby putting it in harm for a significant injury.

This was supposedly the reason why the Mets added Trevor Williams at the trade deadline. He was a depth arm to help get the Mets to the end of the year. Instead of taking Megill’s spot, he’s in the bullpen.

There’s no sugar coating this. What the Mets are doing is highly irresponsible. In fact, it’s flat out dumb. They’re risking injury for a young pitcher to not make the postseason.

Tylor Megill needs to be shut down now. The Mets can figure out what they need to figure out. Whatever the case, Megill can’t throw another inning this season.