With newly acquired right-hander Paul Blackburn officially joining the Mets in Anaheim on Friday as he gets set to make his team debut against the Angels, New York announced that Tylor Megill was optioned to Triple-A.

After the trade on July 30 that brought Blackburn to Queens, the Mets moved Megill from the starting rotation to the bullpen.

The right-hander pitched 2.0 innings of relief on July 31 against the Minnesota Twins after starter Luis Severino struggled. Megill allowed a run on three hits and a walk while striking out two on 34 pitches (22 strikes).

The 29-year-old had been recalled from the minors a few days earlier to replace the injured Christian Scott in the rotation and went 6.0 innings against the Atlanta Braves on July 27, but allowed four earned runs on five hits, including three home runs, and took the loss.

After the game which took place a day after New York lost Kodai Senga, who was making his season debut, to a calf strain, manager Carlos Mendoza said Megill was still in line to make his next scheduled start which would've been Friday night against the Angels.

Instead, president of baseball operations David Stearns traded for Blackburn of the Oakland Athletics before the trade deadline which moved Megill to the bullpen for the time being.

However, after that move was made, Mendoza told reporters that he and the team still view Megill as a starter, that the plan is to keep him stretched out and that they are still deciding whether to eventually go to a six-man rotation.

"Nobody wants to go down to the minors, but he understands we made a move and we got to keep him stretched out so just continue to build on some of the things he was doing well here, some of the pitches that he was working on," Mendoza said on Friday before the game. "Like I said, nobody wants to go down, but he was fine."

For the moment, the Mets will not use a six-man rotation as Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana and David Peterson join Severino and Blackburn in the starting five.

Mendoza confirmed New York's plan to use a conventional five-man rotation on Friday, saying "as of right now, that’s what we’re doing."

In 10 games (nine starts) this season, Megill is 2-5 with a 5.17 ERA (1.43 WHIP) in 47 innings pitched.

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