With Seth Lugo Out, Trevor Rosenthal Should Be Next Mets Addition

Mets left scrambling to fill massive gap after surgery diagnosis

Image credit: Tom Pennington/Getty

Per a team release on Saturday morning, New York Mets’ right-hander Seth Lugo is due to undergo surgery on Tuesday in Florida to remove a “loose body” from his right elbow following a bone spur suffered during his offseason throwing regimen.

According to the statement, “Lugo will not throw for six weeks [after surgery] before assessing and transitioning into a throwing program”.

Lugo, 31, has been an integral part of the Mets’ relief corps for some time.

Since moving into the bullpen in 2018, Lugo’s 2.51 ERA and 3.8 wins above replacement rank eighth and 12th in the majors among qualified relievers (191 strikeouts, 40 walks, 0.95 WHIP, 168.2 IP).

If Lugo’s rehab should run into the regular season, the Mets will be hard-pressed to find a suitable replacement in-house to absorb his duties.

Yes, the Mets’ bullpen is populated with effective arms in Edwin Diaz and Trevor May, as well as a couple of guys who have a lot to prove this season in Dellin Betances and Jeurys Familia, who can fill the gap.

Incumbents Robert Gsellman, Miguel Castro, and Franklyn Kilome should have an opportunity to ascend into a temporary role in Lugo’s absence, too. But the Mets do have another option.

Right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, 30, remains available on the free-agent market, and that’s an awfully intriguing potential addition, especially under these circumstances.

Over 23 appearances between Kansas City and San Diego last season, Rosenthal pitched to a 1.90 ERA (2.22 FIP) with 38 strikeouts and eight walks over 23.2 innings pitched, allowing just two homers over that span.

Per Statcast, the fireballer is back to being one of the more efficient relievers in baseball after missing substantial time (all of 2018, a portion of 2019) following Tommy John surgery in 2017.

Relying mostly on his high-spin four-seam fastball (37.3% whiff rate in 2020) and mixing in his slider (.158 batting average against) and an obscene changeup (46.2% whiff), Rosenthal absolutely deals.

His .132 expected batting average, .265 expected slugging percentage, and .229 weighted on-base average all ranked within the top one percent of the league last season and that aforementioned fastball was worth -10 runs versus opposing hitters.

Regardless of his recent injury issues, this is the type of addition a team proclaiming contention makes when an unforeseen issue arises.

Rosenthal’s cost will be considerable, but for a guy whose stuff is simply incredible, it could be worth every penny. We’ll keep you posted.