Mets' Tylor Megill, Brewers' Trevor Megill to face off for first time
Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill, left, and Brewers reliever Trevor Megill. Credit: Getty Images
Julie Megill had it all planned out — the flights, the hotels, the tickets.
For the first time at any level in their shared hobby-turned-profession, her sons were going to play each other. Tylor Megill, Mets starting pitcher, was in line to pitch. Trevor Megill, Brewers relief pitcher, was a candidate to get into any of the games.
But on June 22 of last summer — less than a week before Milwaukee came to Queens — the Megill brothers both were demoted to Triple-A .
“That was hilarious,” Julie told Newsday by phone from California. “But not really.”
Tylor said with a wry smile: “It’s unfortunate. It’s unlucky to say the least.”
They can laugh about it now because of what is about to happen: Tylor’s Mets and Trevor’s Brewers are about to face off . . . for real this time. And instead of a nondescript midseason, midweek series, it’ll be the first games of the year, the season opener on Thursday followed by contests Saturday and Sunday.
Tylor, again, is scheduled to pitch the finale. Trevor, again, may well appear any day.
And so Julie, again, has it all planned out, the flights and hotels and tickets and even dinner at Tylor’s favorite Italian place in town, Park Side Restaurant. She’ll be at Citi Field with her husband and their dad, Kevin, and other relatives and family friends, proudly donning her custom-made split jersey — half Mets, half Brewers, all Megill.
“Now, it’s even more special,” the 28-year-old Tylor, who hopes to do a pregame lineup-card exchange at home plate with Trevor, said.
Trevor, 30, added in a phone interview from Arizona: “I got sent down to learn how to hold runners better. He got sent down to pitch better. That’s baseball, and that’s the reason we’re meeting on Opening Day this year.”
It’ll be a watershed moment for the Megills, who raised their family — including daughter Ryleigh — in Southern California. Trevor was a year and a half (and two grades) older than Tylor, who was a catcher — and the lesser all-around baseball player, in Tylor’s assessment — when they were kids.
Trevor (left) and Tylor Megill pose for Little League portraits circa 2002. Credit: Julie Megill
They were “always super competitive” and “not lovey-dovey toward one another,” Julie said. Trevor described them as “best friends” who were “bashing heads” and “always getting into trouble.” They grew closer as they got older, according to their mom, especially once Trevor went to college. For one season, 2015, they overlapped at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles before Trevor went pro and Tylor transferred.
Sibling rivalry still?
“Not at all,” Tylor said. “Just trying to uplift each other and help each other out.”
That was especially true over the offseason when they lived in Arizona. Trevor built a mound in his backyard, so Tylor came over often. The primary activities: throwing, talking ball, hanging out with Trevor’s newborn daughter.
“We were able to hang out a lot more this year and be brothers again,” Trevor said. “It was quality time. It’s been a while since we’ve done that.”
Apart geographically for most of the year, they stay in touch by playing RuneScape, a 23-year-old fantasy role-playing video game discovered during middle-school computer class, for hours at a time most nights. They play together — not against each other — online.
“It keeps us in the loop and we have some side conversations about baseball and life while you’re playing video games,” Trevor said.
This is the start of an important season for the Megill brothers, who both broke into the majors in 2021.
Tylor entered spring training without a clear spot on the Mets’ roster, but he won the rotation opening created by Kodai Senga’s shoulder injury that will sideline him for at least the first month of the season. He’ll try to build on the success he had toward the end of last season, including a 2.55 ERA in his last half-dozen starts.
Trevor is a breakout candidate in the Brewers’ bullpen, which often features guys like him: hard throwers who have had injury issues and/or been cast aside by other clubs. After stints with the Cubs and Twins, he hooked on with Milwaukee in 2023. He, too, had a good late run, posting a 2.12 ERA after getting called up for good in mid-August.
The elder Megill often touched 100 mph with his fastball during that stretch. Tylor, who openly desired to reach triple digits before he realized trying to do so wasn’t good for his arm, said he isn’t jealous.
“It’s all good,” Tylor said. “I get to throw more innings.”
When it is time to play ball, who will Mama Megill, as she calls herself on Twitter, be rooting for? She is most invested in her sons, of course, whichever is on the mound at the moment. But she did admit to being more of a Mets fan overall.
“I hope he shoves it up our [butt] for six innings and we come back and beat the bullpen,” Trevor said. “Zero-zero game in the sixth and we take it from there.”
And you know how moms are.
“I just want them,” Julie said, “to be happy and do well.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
