Agreement includes a player option for the 2024 season
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have signed right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo to a one-year contract through the 2023 season, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller announced today. The agreement includes a player option for the 2024 season.
Lugo (LOO-goh), 33, posted career highs in appearances (62) and games finished (20) in 2022 for the New York Mets, going 3-2 with a 3.60 ERA (26 ER, 65.0 IP), three saves, 16 holds and a 69-to-18 SO/BB ratio. The 6-4, 225-pound Lugo limited left-handed batters to a .167 AVG (17-102), the eight-best mark in the National League and tied for the 12th-best mark in the Majors (min. 100 LHB faced). He tossed 0.2 inning in the Mets’ combined no-hitter on April 29 vs. Philadelphia, and he recorded his 500th career strikeout on September 15 vs. Pittsburgh after striking out the side in the seventh inning. He made his postseason debut in 2022 and appeared in all three games of the Mets’ Wild Card Series vs. San Diego, tossing a combined 2.0-shutout innings of two-hit ball, including a save in New York’s 7-3, Game 2 victory on October 8. His curveball ranked in the 99th percentile in spin rate (3,253 rpm), and opponents hit just .159 (11-69) against the pitch.
The Shreveport, La. native has made 275 career appearances (38 starts) across parts of seven Major League seasons with the Mets (2016-22), going 32-24 with 16 saves, a 3.48 ERA (191 ER, 494.2 IP), 1.16 WHIP and 508 strikeouts against 137 walks. In his 38 career starts, he has gone 15-10 with a 4.35 ERA (94 ER, 194.2 IP) and .272 opponents’ average compared to a 17-14 record, a 2.91 ERA (97 ER, 300.0 IP) and .212 opponents’ AVG across 237 career relief outings. He was originally selected by the Mets in the 34th round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Centenary College of Louisiana.
