ATLANTA — Tyler Jay spent “maybe about every day” over the past five years wondering if this opportunity would arrive.
But here was the 29-year-old Jay summoned from the bullpen in the eighth inning Thursday at Truist Park.
The lefty reliever pitched the final two innings of the Mets’ 16-4 victory over the Braves, allowing one earned run on five hits and one walk in his MLB debut.
Diagnosed five years ago with an allergic condition that inflamed his esophagus and caused his weight to plummet, Jay — a first-round draft pick by the Twins in 2015 — placed his pitching career on hold.
The only baseball opportunity he could find upon returning was with the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League.
Jay spent two seasons with Joliet before he was signed by the Mets and assigned to Triple-A Syracuse. He was selected to the roster on Wednesday to provide the Mets with bullpen depth.
On Thursday he received the Victory Belt that goes to the pitcher of the game.
“I got married in 2021 and I just had two daughters that are four months old,” Jay said. “They get to know like, ‘Dad never quit,’ which means a lot to me.”
Jay said he had jitters walking to the mound for the first time in a major league game, but reminded himself it was 60 feet, 6 inches to home plate, just like always.
“It’s a good way to test myself,” Jay said of facing a dangerous Braves lineup. “If you are going to come up and do it, to face a team like that is pretty special.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza wasn’t prepared to announce a starting pitcher for Sunday.
Luis Severino and Sean Manaea are aligned for the next two days against the Royals, and team brass was mulling whether to give Adrian Houser an extra day of rest and insert a starter for Sunday, potentially Jose Butto.
But if Houser pitches in his normal slot that would leave an opening on Monday, when top pitching prospect Christian Scott would be on full rest.
Scott has 19 strikeouts over nine innings in his two starts for Syracuse.
Mendoza would not say if Scott is a candidate to join the Mets’ rotation, but said the right-hander has caught his attention.
“We are paying attention,” Mendoza said. “It’s hard not to pay attention when the guy is throwing the way he is throwing. Another impressive outing for him [Wednesday]. We saw it with one of those starts in big-league camp: a really good fastball gets on hitters, a low release that plays up and we’re watching.”
Julio Teheran has elected free agency, the Mets announced. The veteran right-hander was designated for assignment on Tuesday, a day after allowing four earned runs over 2 ²/₃ innings in his Mets debut.
The Mets traded reliever Yohan Ramirez to the Orioles for cash considerations.
