Just a couple weeks before Spring Training games were set to ensue on Feb. 13, the Mets announced that right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo would undergo surgery on his elbow to remove loose bodies.
The plan was to shut Lugo, 31, down from throwing for six weeks, which put him out of contention for the Opening Day roster. That timeline would likely put Lugo out until mid-May when including rehab from the injury.
However, Lugo has been playing catch this past week according to Mets’ skipper Luis Rojas, and was two days ahead of schedule in throwing from 75 feet this weekend, so that return could possibly be a bit sooner.
Regardless, Lugo’s return will be a welcomed one, and one that will only further bolster this team’s bullpen.
New York made a few moves to improve their relief corps this winter, including signing right-hander Trevor May and Aaron Loup, claiming righty Jacob Barnes off waivers and adding a slew of guys as depth.
These pitchers joined incumbent arms such as Edwin Diaz, Miguel Castro, Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances to round out the ‘pen.
Going into Opening Day without Lugo, the Mets do have some promising arms to throw in late in games, especially the newly acquired May, the new and improved Diaz and potentially Miguel Castro, though Lugo’s return should not fly under the radar.
With all that happened this winter, I think a lot of people, myself included, forget just how big of a boon it will be to add someone of Lugo’s caliber back into this bullpen.
Since Lugo has debuted in 2016, he has both started and pitched in relief for the Mets, though the team decided to move him fully to the bullpen in 2018 after he started a handful of games.
It was 2019, however, when Lugo truly established himself as one of the more dominant relievers in the game. The Louisiana native appeared in 61 games that year (80.0 innings pitched) and had a 2.70 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 3.24 xFIP and had 2.3 fWAR. His Statcast numbers from that year speak for themselves.
Lugo had a strange campaign in 2020 as he started out in the ‘pen, but was stretched out as a starter as the season progressed. However, the season itself didn’t begin until the dog days of summer so preparation times for everyone were thrown out of whack.
The now 31-year-old had a 5.15 ERA in 16 games (seven started) in what was overall a throwaway campaign.
During his time in the majors, Lugo has had ambitions to start, though has proved to be a more viable option as a late-inning reliever where his elite curveball spin can really shine.
This Mets bullpen has a lot of interesting pieces. Edwin Diaz had a resurgence last year and looked like the closing pitcher the Mets traded for.
Miguel Castro, who came over from the Baltimore Orioles last trade deadline, has a big fastball and had a strong spring. Trevor May, who had Tommy John surgery and missed the 2017 season because of it, has been a strong reliever for the Minnesota Twins the last three years and brings that history to New York.
Those three guys are very strong options to pitch the latter frames for New York. Throw Lugo in there? That is as good of a group of guys as any.
