Zach Thornton is back with the Mets after a Friday morning recall from Triple-A, part of a four-move roster shuffle before the club opened a three-game set with the Phillies. The left-hander returns after a difficult first look in the Major League and arrives with a chance to affect the bullpen mix right away.
Zach Thornton and the Mets
Thornton is 24 and made his big-league debut at Nationals Park on May 20, when he allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings. This time, the Mets are asking him to come back in the middle of a stretch that also included Tyrone Taylor coming off the injured list and MJ Melendez plus Daniel Duarte going to Triple-A.
He reached the Major League roster on the strength of a 4.25 ERA across 55.0 IP between Binghamton and Syracuse. That work kept him in position for another look even after the debut line at Nationals Park, and the recall gives the Mets another left-handed arm without waiting for a separate move later in the series.
Taylor returns, Melendez moves out
Taylor was activated after spending exactly one month on the injured list with a right hip flexor strain. He had been sidelined since May 26, then went 7-for-15 with two homers and six runs batted in over four rehab games with Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse in the past week.
Melendez and Duarte went the other direction. Melendez had opened his Mets run with a 1.024 OPS through his first 16 games after being promoted on April 15, but he was batting.123 with a.495 OPS after that hot start. Duarte had made three appearances with the Mets this year, and his last outing came on June 14 against the Braves, when he allowed no runs, one hit and one walk while striking out three in five innings.
For the Mets, the timing is the point. The roster changes came Friday morning before the Phillies arrived at Citi Field for a series opener scheduled for Friday night at 7:10 p.m. ET, with Zack Wheeler listed as the starter for Philadelphia. Whether Thornton gets into that game immediately is the next piece to watch.
