Mets place Seth Lugo on IL with shoulder tendinitis, call up Hector Santiago

The Mets announced this afternoon that right-handed reliever Seth Lugo has been placed on the injured list with shoulder tendinitis that he first felt Sunday against the Marlins when he gave up a solo home run in an inning of work. He will be shut down and reevaluated later this week.

Lugo had been one of the team’s better relievers all season, with a 3.12 ERA and a 2.90 FIP over 26 innings. He had put up career bests in walk rate, strikeout rate, and WHIP before the injury.

This is not the first injury run-in for Lugo, who has been pitching with a partial tear of his UCL for the past two years and also struggled early in the season due to illness.

Taking Lugo’s roster spot is Hector Santiago, the veteran lefty picked up during the offseason on a minor league deal. After struggling throughout spring training, Santiago has a 3.35 ERA in Syracuse across 46 innings of work, although he has walked close to five batters per nine innings. His eight minor league appearances in 2019 include seven starts, though the Mets have yet to indicate whether he will be used out of the bullpen or in the rotation.

The team moved Jed Lowrie to the 60-day IL in order to free up a 40-man roster roster spot for Santiago, which does not delay Lowrie’s timeline for return.