Former NY Mets player has quietly become a SF Giants bullpen weapon this month

The New York Mets knew there was something there with him when acquired via trade prior to the 2021 season. Unfortunately, things never amounted to much. Could it be because they had Joey Lucchesi in the wrong role after all?

A fan favorite thanks to his churve, Lucchesi had nasty stuff at times yet never seemed to do enough to establish himself a big league job. An injury in 2021 knocked him out for all of 2022. He was a regular in the rotation in the final days of 2023 before being held back in the minors for most of 2024 outside of two starts including game 162. He was DFA'd midseason but remained with the organization.

The Mets released him this offseason. A minor league pact with the San Francisco Giants was apparently just what he needed to turn his career around. Used exclusively as a reliever in Triple-A and now in the majors, Lucchesi has been a dominant bullpen weapon for over a month now.

Apparently, all Joey Lucchesi needed was for the Mets to demote him to a bullpen role

Lucchesi pitched to a 3.23 ERA in Triple-A this season. It shouldn’t be such a surprise. Last season in Syracuse, when he logged 25.2 innings in relief, he was even better with a 3.16 ERA. He didn’t strike out a whole lot of batters, averaging just 6 per 9 innings. His stay in Sacramento this season was much different. He wrapped up his time there with 9.1 K/9 along with an impressive 2.3 BB/9.

The major league level is where it really counts. For over a month, Lucchesi has been an answer to those late calls for left-handed relief help. An ERA of 1.93 on the year with 1.3 BB/9 and 10.9 K/9, he has been especially good in July. Hitters are 4 for 30 against him with 14 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances. His 9 shutout innings with only 1 walk have helped keep him around a Giants team attempting to stay afloat in the National League Wild Card race.

His curve, or churve as he likes to call it, has a 42.4% whiff rate with batters finding only 3 singles against it. The .150 batting average against it is much better than when he last made regular starts for the Mets in 2023. He had a .289 batting average against his churve that season.

One might think Lucchesi is fooling lefties, but that’s not the case. Righties are batting the inferior .154/.185/.192 against him. Lefties have managed a .269/.296/.269 slash line.

The Mets play the Giants for three games this weekend beginning on Friday with more than Carson Seymour ready to remind them of some “what could have been.”