Mets right-hander Seth Lugo started his 2019 season off by striking out the side on Thursday in a 2-0 Opening Day win over the Nationals.
Lugo pitched 101.1 innings last season while making 49 relief appearances and five starts. Mets manager Mickey Callaway would like to see him hit that number again in 2019 as he told Mike Francesa of WFAN in a recent interview, “I think if we can get a 100 plus innings out of these guys (Lugo and Robert Gsellman), and then mix in the (Justin) Wilson’s, (Edwin) Diaz’s, and (Jeurys) Familia’s at 65 plus innings, that would maximize our bullpen.”
Lugo, 29, pitched to a 2.66 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 1.08 WHIP and 3.68 SO/W in those 101.1 innings during the 2018 season. The former 34th round pick found out in April of 2017 that he had a partially torn UCL in his right elbow.
The 2018 season did not go as well for Gsellman. The former starter had a 4.28 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, and 2.50 SO/W spanning 80 innings that were exclusively out of the pen.
Callaway went on to say that if one of the Mets starters is out for a prolonged time that it’s possible they stretch out Lugo and slide him into the rotation. He also praised left-handed pitching prospect Anthony Kay, “he was incredible this spring and could move quickly.”
