Padres’ Seth Lugo Preparing to Return From IL on Tuesday
Fresh off a weekend series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the San Diego Padres are off to San Francisco to begin a three-game set versus the Giants that’ll start on Monday, kicking off a road trip that should see a familiar face return to the starting rotation.
Seth Lugo, sidelined since May 16th due to a calf injury, is slated to make his first start in over a month against the Giants on Tuesday. The Padres must first, of course, activate the right-hander from the 15-day IL.
The 33-year-old has to throw another bullpen session before officially receiving the green light from the club’s medical staff. By all accounts, though, chances are he’ll be given the nod in Game 2 of the series, replacing Ryan Weathers, who was optioned to triple-A on Friday.
“If everything goes well, you might see him in San Francisco in the [Ryan] Weathers’ turn,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said on Saturday. “[Lugo] still has another bullpen to throw, and we’ll see where we go, but I’m fairly confident that’s where it’ll be.”
Lugo, who inked to a two-year, $15-million contract with San Diego over the off-season, struggled to a 4.10 ERA and 4.90 xERA prior to landing on the injured list, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks over two innings in his last start against the Kansas City Royals on May 16th.
In his absence, Weathers continued filling in as a starter but faltered to a 9.92 ERA and 6.67 FIP across five starts since May 24, completing three innings or fewer in three of five outings. As a result, San Diego went 2-3 in games started by the 23-year-old lefty during that span.
The Padres are hoping for improved results from Lugo, who threw a 60-pitch simulated game at Petco Park on Thursday, facing a group of hitters that included Nelson Cruz, Jake Cronenworth and Austin Nola.
Lugo’s IL stint wasn’t ideal, although it provided him with a month-long rest, which could be beneficial down the stretch, especially for a pitcher that hasn’t logged more than 101.1 innings in a single season. This season, however, he has already thrown 41.2 innings in eight starts.
San Diego may have needed to monitor the former reliever’s workload more intensely leading up to the All-Star break had he not gotten injured. But now, this recent refresher should allow him to pitch freely moving forward, particularly throughout the second half.
This time off also allowed Lugo to work closely with pitching coach Ruben Niebla, with the pair continuing to improve the effectiveness of his slider, picking up where they left off in spring training.
Opponents hit .300 AVG with a .700 SLG in 10 plate appearances against Lugo’s slider pre-IL stint. But after altering its shape and adding additional horizontal movement, he’s confident it can better complement his five-pitch arsenal – including his infamous curveball, four-seamer, sinker and changeup.
“I think it was very productive,” said Lugo to reporters, including The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders. “I picked up a lot of stuff. I was able to keep my arm in shape, so I was able to keep working. … It was a really productive spot to be able to get that work in.”
There’s hope that Lugo’s improved slider can boost his disappointing swing-and-miss totals in 2023, which see his whiff (17.6 percent, career low) and strikeout rates (21.3 percent) rank in the sixth and 38th percentiles, respectively.
It could also further enhance his effectiveness versus right-handed batters, who are slashing .266/.317/.362 against him this season.
The Padres, meanwhile, will take any success they can get right now, as they sit fourth in the NL West Division at 35-36 entering Monday’s slate of games.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Mds08011. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
The post Seth Lugo Preparing For Return appeared first on Dynes Pressbox.
