In an interview on WFAN Wednesday, Mets manager Luis Rojas indicated that due to the depth in the Mets’ bullpen and the injury-ravaged state of their rotation, Seth Lugo may be used as a starter.

During the game on Wednesday night, SNY Field Reporter Steve Gelbs referenced Lugo as well, pointing to the fact that the Mets have not yet named a starter for Thursday night’s game against the Marlins, and Lugo has been conspicuously invisible in the bullpen in a close game.

After the Mets collected their third-straight victory over the Marlins, Rojas confirmed the suspicions regarding Lugo, announcing that he would in fact start on Thursday.

“Seth has been a starter for us in the past and with the ability of him navigating a lineup with the repertory command and what Seth can do, we’re going to go that way.” Rojas said in his postgame presser.

Rojas does not have a set pitch count for what Lugo can go, but pointed to the fact that he was already throwing multiple innings out of the pen and could be stretched out from there.

This has been tough for the Mets for some time now, as Lugo clearly wants to start and has not been shy about expressing that point. However, Lugo has been the Mets most reliable reliever, notching three saves. Lugo has pitched 10.1 innings in relief, allowing eight hits while striking out 11 and has become the de facto closer, though Rojas has not publicly anointed him into that role.

“Seth has been such an important part of our bullpen, last year the whole year and this year too.” Rojas continued to say that, “At the same time, we have really good guys there that can come in those scenarios.”

Moving Lugo to the rotation will weaken the bullpen, at a time when it was just starting to perform better. Further, Lugo has yet to be stretched out, and probably could not go more than three or four innings in his first two starts. From Rojas’ comments, it appears that the plan is to keep Lugo in the rotation for the remainder of the season.

On the other hand,  Steven Matz will now pitch out of the bullpen, after carrying an ERA of 9.o0 through four starts this year. Rojas would not commit to giving him another chance out of the rotation at this point.

The Mets hope this move will help fix a starting rotation that is currently in shambles. Robert Gsellman, just off the injured list, has yet to pitch more than two innings in his two starts. Rick Porcello has been up-and-down, and David Peterson is on the IL with shoulder fatigue.

Opinion:

If it were up to me, I’d leave Lugo in the bullpen as the closer. In that role, he can help the team several times each week. The Mets know Lugo is an effective reliever at this point of his career. They cannot be sure about his effectiveness as a starter, as he has not started a game since 2018, and that was a spot start.

If the Mets were uncomfortable with Matz making the start on Thursday (reasonably so), they could have employed the opener strategy and go with a bullpen game. Chasen Shreve has shown he can pitch multiple innings, and could be backed up by Brad Brach, Jared Hughes, and the remainder of the bullpen as the situation warrants.

It appears the Mets have made their decision to use Lugo as a starter. This choice has clearly impacted Wednesday night’s game. Rojas and the Mets will have to hope that losing Lugo as a closer will be outweighed by his work as a starter.