The Mets couldn't grab a sweep of the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon, falling 7-3, but Joey Lucchesi was stellar in his start, tossing five innings of four hit, one earned run ball to go along with six strikeouts and one walk.
The lefty has been on a tear in his last few starts, shrinking his ERA from 9.19 on May 15 all the way down to 5.18 after Sunday's outing. He has a 19:4 strikeout to walk ratio in his last four starts as well.
"I just feel like I'm preparing really well in the days in between, doing everything I can in those days to just make sure I'm ready to start," Lucchesi said after Sunday's game. "Scouting, working out, training, productive bullpens, all that. When my day comes to pitch, I'm just letting it eat. ... It was a good series for the boys and just got to keep it pushing."
Lucchesi wasn't always in the starting rotation and it took a while for things to end up where they are, but he said after the game that he likes knowing his exact pitching schedule now that he's been a consistent starter.
"I like it man, I really enjoy it," Lucchesi said. "I know when I'm throwing every fifth day it allows me to set up each day for throwing, running, working out, what I'm going to do each day, recovery, and it sets me up great. It allows my arm to get used to that every fifth day."
On Friday, acting Mets GM Zack Scott talked about potentially adding starting pitching at the trade deadline, with the rotation looking a bit shaky after Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker.
Like Scott said, "the more you can add, the better," plus Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard could come back eventually.
But at the very least, the recent successful outings from Lucchesi are a great sign.