KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Seth Lugo kept telling the Mets he could be a good starting pitcher.
Luis Rojas, who first managed Lugo in the Mets' minor-league system in 2013 and then again in Queens in 2020 and 2021, has been in charge since long before the incontrovertible evidence of the past two seasons emerged. He took his word for it and it led to the biggest start of his career on Wednesday. ALDS Game 3 Royals vs. Yankees.
“He's become one of the elite bullpen men in baseball, a multi-inning guy, even a closer at times,” Rojas told the Post during batting practice. “But he always wanted to be a starter. I remember having those conversations with him.”
Rojas watched from afar as Lugo, who was started by the Padres last season, went 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA and 206 strikeouts for the Royals and emerged as a Cy Young Award candidate. Ta.
He watched it up close Wednesday as the Yankees' third base coach.
“We knew it was better for him from a health standpoint and we were trying to find a position, and the Mets didn't have that position at the time,” Rojas said. “We planned ahead of time that he would end up being that way, but we could also use him in the bullpen. I'm glad he got the opportunity and showed what he can do. I'm happy. I can speak for a lot of people who were rooting for him to start, but it's not that surprising to me.”
Lugo earned a memorable nickname among his Royals teammates.
“He hits the batter on all 27 pitches,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. quipped. “I call him 'The Surgeon' because he's aggressive and cuts batters off. It's so fun to watch and play defense behind him. [with] How consistent has he been throughout the year? ”
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Coach Rojas advocated for Lugo to move into the rotation at the expense of Robert Gsellman during the shortened 2020 season, but his success as a relief pitcher did not result.
Opposing batters hit .296 with seven home runs in 120 at-bats, and his ERA ballooned to 6.15.
“It was a tough spot for him because he started in the bullpen and was trying to stretch in the middle of the season,” Rojas said. “But he asked me to do it, so we did it.”
In 2021, he returned to the bullpen and appeared in 46 games.
“He's a really smart guy,” Rojas said. “He was scripting his outings. Thinking about what he was going to do with each batter and adjusting mid-game if needed. I thought that was special. It There aren't a lot of players who do that. They write down what the batter's tendencies are, but they don't write down what they're trying to do to the hitter. That caught my attention.”
Michael Wacha was a teammate of Lugo in New York, San Diego and Kansas City.
He remembers that Lugo always prepared like a starter who could “spin the crap out of the ball.”
A loss to the Mets could spell trouble for the Yankees in this series, and he could even be taken out of the bullpen in Game 5.
“He's a guy who always has a belief in what he wants his hitters to do,” Rojas said. “He is a competitor and we are looking forward to a tough challenge.”
