New York Mets reliever Seth Lugo is still throwing and will move back to the mound soon, which is tremendous news for the club.
Some good news for a change: New York Mets reliever Seth Lugo is still throwing.
Lugo broke his left pinky toe when he bumped into an ottoman in his hotel room on Monday night. He was expected to miss just three days of practice, but according to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Lugo will still be throwing.
He told the media earlier on Wednesday that he has not been completely shut down from throwing and would be long-tossing that day on flat ground.
Even though Lugo’s injury is a small one, and was never really a cause for major concern, it is still relieving for fans to see that he will still be throwing and participating in baseball activities.
The Mets are a team constantly ravaged by injury, and it seemed like the cycle of injuries was just beginning again with Lugo’s incident. That’s why the fact that it is so minor is important for fans.
This injury could have been especially concerning due to Lugo’s importance to the team. Lugo is, arguably, the Mets’ best reliever and one of the best relievers, especially middle-inning relievers, in the game. He is efficient and provides his team longevity every time he makes a relief appearance.
Lugo was drafted by the Mets in 2011 and made his MLB debut in 2016. In four seasons, the 30-year-old has had an ERA of 3.27, 1.125 WHIP, 122 ERA+, 3.50 FIP, and has struck out 337 batters. He was particularly great in 2018 (2.66 ERA, 1.076 WHIP in 101.1 IP) and 2019 (2.70 ERA, 0.900 WHIP in 80 IP).
His stellar performance during those two seasons led to the baseball universe learning his name and seeing top reliever rankings time and time again. Even though the Mets added some pieces to their bullpen during the offseason, Lugo is invaluable and, quite frankly, irreplaceable.