Already without Kodai Senga in the rotation because of a shoulder injury, the Mets could now be without Tylor Megill, who left his start after four innings on Sunday against the Brewers because he “was a little bit tender in his shoulder area,” according to bench coach John Gibbons, who was filling in for suspended manager Carlos Mendoza in a 4-1 loss at Citi Field.
Megill underwent an MRI exam to determine the severity of the injury.
He struggled with his command, walking three and hitting a batter and was removed after 78 pitches.
Gibbons said Megill would have remained in the game if he hadn’t mentioned the injury.
The injury news surprised Omar Narvaez, who was behind the plate Sunday and said he saw no indication anything was bothering the right-hander.
“I didn’t see any anything,’’ Narvaez said. “Actually, I thought his last inning was his best inning. He was more under control and throwing more strikes.”
Narvaez was right about that, as Megill needed just nine pitches to get through the inning after throwing 69 over the first three.
There was also no indication from Megill’s velocity that anything was awry.
The Mets have Sean Manaea set to make his team debut Monday, followed by Adrian Houser and then back to the top of the rotation Wednesday with Jose Quintana.
the Brewers. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post
Francisco Alvarez is one of the few Mets’ bats that produced again on Sunday, this time from the DH spot, where the Mets will use him on occasion to keep him in the lineup, while trying not to wear him down.
Prior to Sunday’s loss, Mendoza said the coaching staff has talked since spring training about the best way to do that, especially with a crowded schedule over the first few weeks of the regular season.
“We know he likes to work and how intense he is with his pregame [stuff] and how hard he plays the game,’’ Mendoza said. “It’s something we’ll be mindful of. I thought [Sunday] was a good day to have his bat in there as a DH with [Narvaez] in there at catcher. We definitely want to get [Alvarez] some off days.”
And Mendoza also didn’t rule out occasionally going to a six-man rotation early on due to the schedule — a schedule that could become even more complicated with bad weather in the forecast each of the next three days with Detroit in town.
“It’s fluid,’’ Mendoza said. “We’ll see where we are. … Everything is on the table.”
Edwin Diaz hasn’t been needed to throw on back-to-back days yet, thanks in part to three straight losses, but Mendoza said he would be asked to do it on occasion.
As for pitching three straight days out of the bullpen, the rookie manager said he would try to avoid it, regardless of the pitcher.
“The plan is to stay away from three in a row,’’ Mendoza said. “It comes down to how many pitches and how they bounce back, but every guy is different.”
