The Mets have had to lean heavily on their relief arms, including multiple bullpen days, while Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom have all been on the IL at some point this season.
Carrasco and Syndergaard won’t be available in the short term and have yet to pitch this season, but deGrom, who had a clean MRI after dealing with tightness in his lat and lower back, could be very close to a return. After the team’s disastrous bullpen day on Saturday, including a five-run inning on Joey Lucchesi’s watch to erase a 4-1 lead, New York appears to need another option to fill in the rotation, but for now, manager Luis Rojas appears to be sticking with the struggling Lucchesi.
Asked if Lucchesi would get another opportunity while deGrom is on the IL, Rojas didn’t blink.
“Right now, I gotta say yes,” Rojas said. “Having Jake on the IL, it’s valuable to have him, whether he’s going to be a lefty long man out of the pen right now and change looks.”
Lucchesi didn’t show his value on Saturday, allowing four runs in 1.2 innings to raise his season ERA to 9.19. The lefty reliever was seen as a valuable bullpen piece when the Mets traded for him prior to this season, but it’s been a brutal start to the season for Lucchesi, who has now allowed three runs or more in four of his last five outings. Just two weeks ago, Lucchesi was tagged for six runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings against the Cardinals, and after a better appearance last time out against the Diamondbacks, it was back to his typical struggles on Saturday.
“I know things connected for him in the four batters, walk, double, single, double,” Rojas said of Lucchesi’s performance on Saturday. “But the outing before this one he took us into the sixth inning throwing the ball really well.”
Lucchesi’s previous outing is more of an anomaly. He has allowed 12 earned runs in 14 innings, including 16 hits in that span. As the bulk man for Rojas’ bullpen days, Lucchesi has been the most susceptible to a big inning, but Mets fans will likely see him on the mound again soon, at least until starting rotation reinforcements arrive and negate the need for an opener.
Rojas hopes next time he hands Lucchesi the ball, it will be a closer product to his outing against the Diamondbacks than the one he put together on Saturday.
“This was a different story [Saturday], but it was a sequence of four batters that pushed him out of the game,” Rojas said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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