Not Quite Ready...

Tyler Pill got off to a strong 2017 start in the Mets farm system. Between AA Binghamton and AAA Las Vegas, he posted a 4-1 record with an ERA just above three. With the Mets missing such rotation mainstays as Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, the unheralded righthander made his debut during May. His first relief appearance was shaky; his first start last week was better. But Sunday's outing against the Pirates was a failure -- his pitches must have looked like grapefruits to the Pittsburgh batters, who hit him hard in over the first few innings.
Now what? Does Pill go back to the minors, where he'd spent six-and-a-half years? To the bullpen? 
We're all aware that the Mets have again been thinned -- make that decimated -- by injuries, But are they becoming vampires? Including Sunday's 11-1 loss, they are 3 - 11 in day games this season.
It's so often said the biggest leap is the gap between AAA and the majors. The contrast between Tyler Pill's minor and major league stats is a telling barometer of how much more difficult the majors are to almost every pitching prospect.

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