Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

According to New York Mets manager Luis Rojas, Jacob deGrom‘s next start, which was initially scheduled for the series finale at Wrigley field on Thursday, will be pushed back to Friday when the Amazin’s return home to face the Washington Nationals.

The Mets will instead go with left-hander Joey Lucchesi for their final contest with the Cubs, citing his lower pitch count this season. As Rojas also noted, deGrom was the one who requested the extra day’s rest.

deGrom is coming off another masterful outing on Saturday at Coors Field, where he did not allow an earned run, while striking out 14 batters for the second-straight start in a win. He was also one punch-out shy of tying franchise great Tom Seaver‘s MLB record of 10 consecutive strikeouts.

With deGrom getting the ball to kickoff the Mets’ first series of a six-game home stand, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker are likely to follow in Games No. 2 and 3 versus the Nationals.

As for Lucchesi, the southpaw gave up three runs in three innings in his first start of the season with the Mets in a Game 2 loss of the team’s split doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

After giving up all three scores in his first inning of work, Lucchesi settled down to throw two scoreless frames. Overall, Lucchesi has struck out six batters in five innings this season, while allowing those three runs at Coors Field.