Photo by James Farrance Photography
With Noah Syndergaard on the 10-day Injured List and the Mets needing another starter, the team has opted to promote RHP Walker Lockett tomorrow to start in the game against the Chicago Cubs, as reported by Mike Puma of the New York Post.
It is interesting to note Lockett will be making his Mets debut at Wrigley Field much like how Syndergaard made his Major League debut in the same ballpark four years ago.
Lockett was one of the players the Mets obtained this past offseason from the Cleveland Indians in the Kevin Plawecki deal.
The right-hander spent much of the early part of the season in Extended Spring Training as he dealt with elbow soreness. He would make two rehab starts for St. Lucie before finally joining Triple-A Syracuse at the end of May.
In four starts for Syracuse since he returned, he is 0-1 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.216 WHIP, 1.5 BB/9, and a 3.3 K/9. Three of his four starts were quality starts with him coming just an out short in his last start of making it four consecutive quality starts.
It should be noted that the pitcher, coming back from elbow soreness, has topped 90 pitches only two times so far this year with the latest being his 92 pitch effort.
This will not be Lockett’s Major League debut. Lockett made three starts and one relief appearance for the San Diego Padres last year. In those four games, he was 0-3 with a 9.60 ERA, 2.1333 WHIP, 6.0 BB/9, and a 7.2 K/9.
With Lockett having dealt with elbow soreness and the team keeping his pitch count lower, you could make the argument the Mets should have gone in a different direction for tomorrow’s start. For example, Chris Mazza was the International League Pitcher of the Week last week, and he has accomplished that feat twice over the past month.
It is possible Lockett got the nod over Mazza or another choice simply due to the fact that Lockett is already on the 40-man roster, which is now full after selecting the contract of Stephen Nogosek on Tuesday.
