Mets trade for Joey Lucchesi

The Mets have traded for 27-year-old left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi as part of a three-team deal that sent fellow starting pitcher Joey Musgrove to the Padres and several prospects to the Pirates. The Mets are giving up 20-year-old Endy Rodriguez, who ranked 23rd on our list of the team’s top prospects for 2021, in the deal.

In 59 major league appearances—all but one of which were starts—Lucchesi has a 4.21 ERA and 4.21 FIP over the course of 299.1 innings. He’s been worth 4.2 bWAR and 3.3 fWAR over that span. In 2020, he only made three appearances for San Diego with a 7.94 ERA and 3.01 FIP in just five-and-two-thirds innings.

Lucchesi figures to be in the mix for a spot at the back of the Mets’ Opening Day rotation. Before the trade, the team had Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Marcus Stroman locked in to rotation spots with David Peterson a seemingly likely rotation member and Steven Matz having a shot at winning a spot.