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The New York Mets had been wanting to schedule more rest for their starting pitchers during a difficult stretch of 13 games in 13 days.

They also wanted to take their first regular-season look at pitching prospect Blade Tidwell. Their rainout Saturday in St. Louis will help them accomplish both goals.

Tidwell will make his big league debut in the opener of a day-night doubleheader against the Cardinals in St. Louis on Sunday. Fellow right-hander Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA), Saturday’s scheduled starter for the Mets, will start the second game with an extra day of rest.

The Mets defeated the Cardinals 9-3 on Friday to improve to 5-0 against St. Louis this season.

Tidwell, a second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft was just 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA in six starts at Triple-A Syracuse. But he impressed the Mets in spring training after a productive offseason of training.

“You’ve got to give him credit,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He worked extremely hard, put himself in a position where he came in and pretty much impressed everyone because of how he was looking physically and how the ball was coming out.”

In his last two starts in the minors, Tidwell struck out 18 batters and walked just one.

“He earned it,” Mendoza said. “We know the stuff is there. We saw flashes of it in spring training, and the way he’s been throwing the ball, especially lately.

“We needed a spot start, he put himself in position, and he’s getting the call.”

The Mets believe he has significant upside.

“It comes down to executing, throwing strikes, because we all know how electric his stuff is,” Mendoza said.

The Cardinals will start Erick Fedde (1-3, 4.68 ERA) in the first game and Andre Pallante (2-2, 4.13 ERA) in the second.

Fedde will try to rebound from a rough outing against the Milwaukee Brewers. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-1 loss on April 27.

“When you’re a guy who gives up lots of ground balls sometimes that just happens,” Fedde said. “I started mixing it up there the last two innings, a little different sequencing and they went a little better.

“(I will) just keep working on things. The sweeper started to feel a little better today and I’m just going to be more aggressive.”

Fedde hasn’t had much success against the Mets. He is 1-5 with a 6.51 ERA in 17 appearances (12 starts).

Pallante suffered a 4-1 loss to the Mets earlier this season. He allowed the four runs on seven hits, including Mark Vientos’ homer, in the April 17 game. He is 0-2 with a 4.43 ERA in nine career games (two starts).

The rainout will force the Cardinals to play their second doubleheader within a week. They won two games from the Reds in Cincinnati on Wednesday,

The Cardinals summoned pitching prospect Michael McGreevy from Triple-A Memphis, where he was 3-1 with a 4.08 ERA in six starts. He was scheduled to start in the minors Saturday, but he will work out of the bullpen Sunday.

In four games (three starts) with the Cardinals last season, he was 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA.

“I was just happy to be back in the big leagues,” McGreevy told MLB.com. “We’ve got a great group down in Memphis, but this is heaven, and this is where you want to be.”

–Field Level Media