{"id":818717,"date":"2026-07-23T12:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/818717\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T12:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:47:22","slug":"mets-former-southpaw-leaves-mlb-after-latest-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/818717\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets\u2019 Former Southpaw Leaves MLB After Latest Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 03: A view of a New York Mets logo on a bag before the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 03, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

The New York Mets are preparing to offload almost all of the valuable assets they can ahead of the trade deadline, but several former players have already begun making decisions about their futures away from Queens. <\/p>\n

While the Mets continue evaluating ways to salvage some value from the season by trading away veteran pieces, one familiar left-hander has opted to leave affiliated baseball altogether rather than languish in the minors in hopes of another opportunity.<\/p>\n

ForbesCubs Acquire Hated Rival\u2019s Outfielder Just Before Trade DeadlineBy Peter Chawaga<\/a>Former New York Mets Veteran Leaves MLB After Latest Cut<\/p>\n

Mets fans will recall that Joey Lucchesi spent parts of four seasons with the team, filling roles as both a starter and swingman after arriving from the San Diego Padres. But last week, after bouncing around multiple organizations over the past few years, the veteran has found a new destination that effectively takes him out of the MLB picture for at least the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chiba Lotte Marines are signing LHP Joey Lucchesi,\u201d Japanese baseball outlet Yakyu Cosmopolitan reported on X<\/a>. \u201cLucchesi, 33, has a career 4.15 ERA\/4.20 FIP in 436.1 IP at the MLB level. He posted a 3.24 ERA with a 31.9 K% and 9.2 BB% in 33.1 IP at Triple-A Salt Lake this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move comes after Lucchesi spent the first half of 2026 pitching in Triple-A within the Los Angeles Angels organization. Despite posting strong strikeout numbers and a respectable ERA, he never earned a return to the majors.<\/p>\n

Instead, the veteran left-hander will continue his career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, joining the growing list of former MLB pitchers who have revitalized their careers there.<\/p>\n

ForbesESPN Veteran Addresses Pat McAfee-Linked Layoffs After Phillies, Dodgers GameBy Peter Chawaga<\/a>Former New York Mets Southpaw Finds Opportunity To Rebuild Value Overseas<\/p>\n

Lucchesi’s move may not necessarily mark the end of his major league career, but it does signal that his immediate future lies outside North America.<\/p>\n

\u201cLucchesi has pitched in eight of the past nine major league seasons, with the lone exception being a 2022 campaign lost to injury,\u201d Steve Adams wrote for MLB Trade Rumors<\/a>. \u201cHe was a solid rotation piece with the Padres for his first two big league seasons in 2018-19 (293 2\/3 innings, 4.14 ERA, 24.6 K%, 8.0 BB%) and had some decent stints as a swingman following a trade to the Mets. More recently, he\u2019s begun to bounce around the league, pitching with three different organizations (Mets, Giants, Angels) in the past three seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

All told, Lucchesi pitched more than 95 innings across three seasons with the Mets, logging a 3.78 ERA with 80 total strikeouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll spend the remainder of the season in Japan \u2014 likely earning more than he\u2019d have secured on a minor league deal in North America \u2014 and reassess his market in the offseason,\u201d Adams added. \u201cA strong performance could set him up for a seven-figure guarantee overseas in 2027 or catch the attention of major league clubs in free agency this winter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 03: A view of a New York Mets logo on a bag before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,1025,1830,394282,85],"class_list":["post-818717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-ny-mets","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}