The competition at the back-end of the New York Mets starting rotation is great this spring, as a lot of guys have showed up to camp looking to win a job on the Opening Day roster.

Joey Lucchesi made his first start in the Grapefruit League on Wednesday, making his bid to be included in the Mets starting rotation by pitching three excellent innings.

In the first inning, Lucchesi struck out the Miami Marlins best player, Starling Marte, besting the slugger in at-bat that lasted seven pitches. The left-hander walked Jesus Aguilar, but ultimately worked around the traffic to keep Miami off the board.

In the next inning, Lucchesi used his patented “churve” to strike out Brian Anderson, before walking Jazz Chisholm on four consecutive pitches. The speedy Chisholm ended up getting a little over-anxious at first base, as Lucchesi was able to pick him off to record the second out of the inning. Lucchesi needed just one more pitch to get out of the inning, as he induced a groundout with a first-pitch sinker.

The 27-year-old starter finished his outing strong in the third inning, striking out the final two batters he faced as part of a perfect frame. Altogether, Lucchesi walked two but did not allow a single hit, with four strikeouts across his three innings pitched.

So far this spring, Lucchesi has pitched scoreless five innings and has yet to yield a hit. He has seven strikeouts and has walked three batters thus far.

Jordan Yamamoto and David Peterson are Lucchesi’s prime competition to win a spot in the Mets rotation, but the lefty is at least giving them a run for their money at this point.