For a long time, New York Mets‘ pitcher Seth Lugo wanted to be a starter. After all, he came up through the minor leagues as such. But the last, before the 2020 season, that he started a game was in 2018. He was too valuable of a reliever, but injuries and ineffectiveness forced the team to put him back in the rotation this year.
His first start came on August 25, against the Miami Marlins. For three innings, he was perfect, with no hits or walks and five strikeouts. On Sunday, against the Yankees, the New York Mets’ righty was impressive once again, allowing four hits and two walks against a good offense, with only an earned run (a home run) and seven punchouts.
Lugo is slowly, but surely building arm strength and stamina to have a normal starter workload in just a couple more starts. But results-wise, the Mets have to be pleased with that they have seen so far from the talented hurler.
The Mets miss him in the bullpen
Yes, Lugo is dearly missed in the back of the bullpen, especially since the Mets have blown lead after lead since he was placed in the rotation. But after Steven Matz’s struggles, Noah Syndergaard long-term injury and Marcus Stroman decision to not play the season, going with Lugo as a starter made sense.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, whether it’s the bullpen or anything else — offense, defense, starting pitching,” Lugo said to MLB.com about the bullpen struggles. “These are my teammates, so I always feel for these guys. I know we can make the adjustment we need to make to be successful.”
Against the Yankees, Lugo used his five-pitch mix to get outs, with much success. He mixed in a four-seam fastball, a sinker, a curveball, a slider and a changeup to keep hitters off balance, and it largely worked. He is stretched out to 60 pitches, and each time he takes the mound, the number will increase until he reaches 90 or 100.
“I foresee quality starts,” Rojas said. “If he keeps stretching out, I see quality starts coming from him.”