A Mets free agent signs with a National League opponent to join the legendary starting rotation: report
In free agency, a native of Northern California is returning home, returning to the division in which he made his major league debut. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Joey Lucchesi, a former pitcher for the New York Mets and San Diego Padres, has signed to a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants. An invitation to spring training will be extended to the left-hander. With a 4.10 ERA in 81 big league games (77 starts), 31-year-old Lucchesi is 23-26 overall. He spent the most of the 2024 season with the Mets’ top development team and only made two MLB starts. Lucchesi had a 4.70 ERA in a 5-7 record at Triple-A Syracuse.
After the previous season, he became a free agent. San Diego selected Lucchesi, a native of Newark, California, in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft. With the Tri-City Dust Devils, he started his professional career with a 0–2 record and a 1.35 ERA in 14 games. When Lucchesi made his major league debut in 2018, he pitched 4.2 innings and gave up three earned runs against the Milwaukee Brewers. He threw six innings, gave up two runs, and struck out eight in a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on April 10 at Coors Field, earning him his first victory.
Additional news: For $22 million, the Mets will sign a World Series hero from their NL East rivals: Reports After 26 starts and 130 innings pitched with 145 strikeouts, Lucchesi finished his first season with an 8-9 record and a 4.08 ERA. Alongside Eric Lauer, Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet, and Cal Quantrill, he was regarded as one of the Padres’ best young pitchers that season. Lucchesi pitched 163.2 innings and struck out 158 hitters in 30 starts in 2019 and finished 10-10 with a 4.18 ERA.
He only pitched 5.2 innings in three games (two starts) in 2020, though, and gave up five runs. Additional news: National League Rivals Sign a Mets Free Agent As part of the three-team transaction that moved Joe Musgrove from Pittsburgh to San Diego, the Padres sent Lucchesi to the Mets at the end of the season. Lucchesi rejoined the Mets in 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021. He was recalled for an April 21 start against the Giants after beginning the season in the minor leagues, and he pitched seven shutout innings. Additional news: White Sox manager,
former Mets MLB Accomplished The Catcher Leaves Lucchesi will attempt to force his way into a rotation with the Giants that has Logan Webb, a 2024 All-Star, Justin Verlander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, Robbie Ray, another previous Cy Young Award winner, veteran Jordan Hicks, and Kyle Harrison, a highly-regarded 23-year-old.
Lucchesi might be a useful rotation component in the National League West, which is predicted to be a difficult division with a number of excellent left-handed hitters, including Jackson Merrill and Luis Arraez in San Diego, Corbin Carroll and Josh Naylor in Arizona, and Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in Los Angeles.
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