Mets call up reliever T.J. McFarland, option Josh Walker
Mets pitcher T.J. McFarland poses for a portrait during Photo Day at Clover Park on Feb. 23 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
The Mets bolstered their reeling bullpen on Monday by calling up lefthander T.J. McFarland and optioning Josh Walker, who threw 26 pitches in the previous three games and requires more downtime after undergoing elbow surgery last year.
“We’ve got some guys down there that are doing well statistically and we probably wouldn’t have been able to use Walk for a day or two,” Buck Showalter said. “We’re trying to be very careful with him with some of the stuff that he had with his shoulder [in 2019, leading to the elbow injury] last year with the back-to-back stuff. You can’t assume that Justin [Verlander]’s going to be able to pitch ‘x’ number of innings.”
McFarland, 34, who signed a minor-league deal with the team in January, has a 2.76 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 32 2⁄3 innings with Triple-A Syracuse. He last pitched with the Cardinals and has a 4.50 career ERA in parts of 10 seasons.
The Mets are coming off a bullpen implosion against the Phillies on Sunday — a game in which Walker and fellow rookie Jeff Brigham allowed four runs on one hit, turning a three-run eighth-inning lead into a 7-6 loss.
They also got an extra arm Monday with Drew Smith coming off his 10-game sticky-stuff suspension.
McNeil pressing
Jeff McNeil, who came into Monday riding a 2-for-26 slump, is struggling with the mental aspect of the game, Showalter said, but the manager believes the reigning batting champion will turn it around.
“Sometimes Jeff has a tough time getting out of his own way,” Showalter said. “He wants something so much, mentally and emotionally . . . Jeff right now thinks he’ll never get another hit and he’ll probably get four tonight.”
McNeil is hitting .187 in June but has run into some tough breaks, including a .213 batting average on balls put in play.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
