Mets left-hander Joey Lucchesi went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to the team’s Triple-A roster in Syracuse, per their transaction log at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment last week when the Mets acquired righty Phil Maton from the Rays.
Lucchesi has more than three years of big league service time and thus has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but he’s still a couple months shy of the five years of service he’d need to retain the remainder of his $1.65MM salary upon rejecting an outright. As such, he’ll likely accept and head back to Syracuse, where he’s already spent the bulk of the 2024 season.
Lucchesi, 31, came to the Mets as part of the 2021 three-team trade better known for sending Joe Musgrove to San Diego and David Bednar to Pittsburgh. New York shipped catching prospect Endy Rodriguez to the Pirates as part of that deal and netted Lucchesi from the Friars. He missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery but has been a frequently used depth arm for the Mets in three other seasons with the organization.
In 89 1/3 frames as a Met, Lucchesi has pitched to a 3.93 ERA with a 20.1% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate, 42.8% grounder rate and 0.91 HR/9. He’s pitched just 4 1/3 MLB frames this season and has otherwise spent the year in Triple-A, where he’s logged 83 2/3 innings with a 4.20 earned run average. He’s fanned 17.9% of his opponents there and registered a 9.7% walk rate.
Even with top starter Kodai Senga on the injured list for the entire season to date, the Mets haven’t found too many opportunities for Lucchesi. Veterans Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Sean Manaea have combined to start 55 of the team’s games. Offseason trade pickup Adrian Houser started seven games but has moved to a multi-inning role in the bullpen. David Peterson and Tylor Megill, both longtime depth options alongside Lucchesi, have started eight games apiece — as has top prospect Christian Scott. Twenty-six-year-old righty Jose Butto has started seven.
It’s a solid group of rotation options, particularly with Senga trending toward a return. Lucchesi will now stick around and provide further depth in the event that injuries hit the staff harder in the second half than in the first. If he’s not added back to the 40-man roster between now and season’s end, he’ll have the opportunity to become a minor league free agent (as is the case for all players with three-plus years of MLB service who are outrighted off a 40-man roster and not re-selected).