Credit: USA TODAY
Seth Lugo is just three years removed from the best season of his MLB career.
The way his 2022 has gone thus far, the days of a 152 ERA+ and sub-1.00 WHIP may be a thing of the past.
Lugo’s latest stumble occurred in Saturday’s loss to the Diamondbacks – the Mets’ only loss of the series against a team that lost 110 last year.
Entering a scoreless ballgame in the seventh inning, Lugo inherited a no-out, runner on first situation after reliever Joely Rodríguez allowed a leadoff single to Seth Beer. The pressure-filled inning started well for Lugo as he struck out the first batter he faced, Carson Kelly. But immediately afterward, Lugo blew the game open for Arizona, serving up a two-run homer to Sergio Alcantara. While a two-run lead is rarely an “insurmountable” lead, Met fans felt it, given how little the offense produced on the afternoon.
The collapse only got worse, as Lugo then walked a batter before Ketel Marte‘s RBI double gave Arizona a three-run cushion. Lugo’s ERA sits at 8.31 in just 4 1/3 innings of work after his Saturday implosion.
In baseball, it’s easy to point to the bad while overlooking the good. When looking at the body of work, Lugo has also had several stellar outings, including a perfect eighth inning on April 13 against the Phillies. Two of those outs even occurred via strikeout. However, because Lugo has been expected to be one of the Mets’ premier bullpen arms, the times he falters stand out.
For instance – that Phillies series was far from all roses for Lugo. In the Mets’ 5-4 loss to Philadelphia, Lugo entered the game in the eighth inning, with the Mets holding a slim one-run lead. Lugo walked a batter in the save situation before allowing consecutive RBI doubles to Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius.
He blew the save, the lead was gone, and Lugo was on the hook despite not being the root of the collapse.
The dialogue surrounding Lugo’s uninspiring performance would leave the casual fan to believe that Met pitching has struggled, with the team hovering around or below .500.
But the ironic part is, especially with Jacob deGrom sidelined, the other side of Mets pitching – the starting rotation – has been phenomenal. Through 10 games, the Mets rotation has posted a 1.07 ERA, the best 10-game start for any team in at least 109 years. The latest dominance by the rotation came via 4 1/3 scoreless innings from David Peterson in a spot start – go figure.
So while the Mets sit at 7-3, are leading the NL East, and are tied for the most wins in the National League, Lugo has become the target of criticism thus far. It’s unfortunate this is where attention is drawn because there is so much to like about this year’s team. Namely, it is the starting arms, but that is how baseball goes.
Fans want to see a winning team. And when players perform counterproductive to that goal, the fans will speak up.
Public criticism is certainly a downside of being a professional athlete. But all Lugo can do now is reach back and find the stuff that made him one of the Mets’ best pitchers over the past several seasons.
Until then, he’ll have a tough time winning over New York’s winning-obsessed fan base.
