It turns out the Mets are now scheduled to start Joey Lucchesi on Wednesday night in Philadelphia after manager Carlos Mendoza warmed up Adrian Houser to protect an overworked bullpen in Tuesday’s ninth inning. .
The Mets did not announce this decision after losing 4-0 to the Phillies at Citi Field. But sources told the Post that the choice they strongly supported was to call up Lucchesi for his first appearance in 2024.
Hauser started against the Cubs on May 2 and his ERA rose to 5.23, so he was removed from the rotation. Hauser was expected to be re-inserted into the rotation on Wednesday, as the Mets are in the middle of a 13-day stretch and 26 games in 27 days.
However, MetSpens have been well deployed these days. Mendoza had hoped to avoid using Sean Reid-Foley for the second consecutive day and third time in four days, but he was down 2-0 in the ninth inning on Tuesday and had nowhere else to turn. That’s what I felt.
But when Reed-Foley’s pitch count started to increase while allowing two runs to the Phillies, Hauser started warming up. He heated up enough during preparation that he was no longer considered as an option for Wednesday’s starting lineup, even though he never appeared in Tuesday’s game.
Instead, Lucchesi, who last pitched last Wednesday for the Syracuse Mets, was expected to be promoted and start. A left-handed pitcher who started seven games in Triple-A this season and recorded an ERA of 2.58. Lucchesi started nine games for the Mets last year, going 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA.
