The New York Mets will be turning to one of their top pitching prospects to help their wounded starting rotation.
Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported on Monday that the Mets are calling up top pitching prospect Zach Thornton who will make his major league debut on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. The left-hander is ranked as the Mets' No. 13 prospect according to MLB.com.
The Mets had been mulling their options on who would start in place of Clay Holmes. The right-hander was placed on the injured list this past weekend with a fractured right fibula. Some of the logical candidates that were floated around were Tobias Myers, who holds experience as a starter during his time with the Milwaukee Brewers, or Sean Manaea, who has been utilized as a long reliever this season.
New York also could have potentially called up Jonah Tong, who made five big league starts towards the end of last season, or another top prospect, Jack Wenninger, who is ranked as the Mets' No. 5 prospect. But with Tong off to a rough start for Triple-A Syracuse and Wenninger having issues with his control, the Mets opted to turn to Thornton, despite having just two starts at the Triple-A level under his belt.
Before being promoted to Triple-A, Thornton was stellar for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. In his five starts in Double-A, the lefty logged a 3.60 ERA with 27 strikeouts and a 1.32 WHIP in 25 innings of work.
Thornton was even more impressive once he arrived in Triple-A, posting a 2.25 ERA with 13 punchouts and a WHIP of 0.92 in 12 innings across two starts.
"He earned it. We like [him] as a lefty against this lineup," manager Carlos Mendoza said of Thornton prior to Monday's game.
Mendoza also admitted that the aforementioned Tong and Wenninger were also options. But the Mets opted to roll with Thornton, who will be used as a "one outing at a time" approach, according to Mendoza.
The Mets are coming off a 5-1 homestand and will continue to try to claw their way back to .500 as they begin the day at 20-26. They currently sit in last place in the NL East and are 11.5 games behind the first place Atlanta Braves.
