Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

While nothing is set in stone, and despite the Mets having a few days left to make their final roster decisions, left-hander Joey Lucchesi has put himself in good position to crack New York’s opening day starting rotation.

Mets’ skipper Luis Rojas and the team brain trust will get a look at Mike Montgomery on Sunday who is also competing for a rotation spot and can opt out of his current deal as well Sunday, but even still, Lucchesi has done enough to earn a spot in the starting five.

Coming over in an offseason trade with the San Diego Padres, the 27-year-old Lucchesi has pitched in four games this spring (13.0 innings), and has yielded just four runs on seven hits, while walking four and striking out 15. Opposing hitters are batting just .156 against the 6’5″ southpaw.

One of the shrewder moves the Mets made this winter, Lucchesi comes with team control through the 2025 season.

Having pitching depth is also extremely important, but considering the Mets are missing two key arms in their rotation in Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco, Lucchesi’s acquisition has proved to be even more beneficial.

The Newark, California native appeared in just three games during the shortened 2020 season, but in 2019, was worth 2.1 fWAR, while pitching to a 4.18 ERA, 4.17 FIP and 4.36 xFIP. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away by any means, but as a No. 5 starter for the interim, it will tide New York over until Syndergaard or Carrasco return.

When they do return, the Mets can shift Lucchesi to a long relief/spot starter type role, which would also give them an additional lefty in the bullpen to go along with Aaron Loup.

The contributions of Lucchesi to the pitching staff have the possibility to be very important, especially if he can throw his infamous “churve” pitch with consistency. So far this spring, it has a 41.2 percent whiff rate.

For more on the churve, check out this article by Josh Finkelstein on Baseball Cloud.

When asked about the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation, Lucchesi told reporters several days ago that he’s just focusing on doing his thing out there on the mound.

“I can only focus on what I’m doing and being the best version of myself,” Lucchesi said. “That’s the best thing you can do.”