While the Mets already have one of the best rotations in baseball, they still have a few solid arms that project to be capable of pitching in a Major League rotation and that starts here with Seth Lugo. We recently ranked him as our number four right-handed pitching prospect in the Mets farm system.

Ht: 6’4″  Wt: 185  Level: Binghamton & Las Vegas 51’s  B/T: R/R Age: 11/17/1989 (26)

Acquired: 2011 Draft, 34th Round, Centenary College of Louisiana

Statistics: 24 GS, 136 IP, 3.84 ERA, 135 H, 35 BB/127 K, .254 BAA

The Mets drafted Lugo in the 34th round because he caught the eye of Mets associate scout Jimmy Nelson. Nelson then suggested him to fellow scout Tommy Jackson who got to see him only two weeks before the drat. The Mets selected him despite a rough senior year in which he went just 3-7 with a 5.57 ERA.

He had a solid pro debut with the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League making 11 appearances (10 starts) pitching to a 3.66 ERA when the league run average was 5.21. That offseason his career took a turn for the worse when he found out after numerous MRI’s that he had spondylolisthesis which is the forward displacement of a vertebra.

Doctors told Seth that he might never pitch again he underwent a lumbar fusion and surgery that lasted nearly ten hours. The surgery took him out of the entire 2012 season as he had to stay bedridden for three months.

He beat the long odds, returning to the mound in 2013 making 12 starts between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Savannah Sand Gnats. In 2014, Lugo pitched a then career high 105 innings in 27 games including four starts for the St. Lucie Mets. He struck out 115 batters and had a 4.11 ERA during that span.

The 2015 season is when he really started opening some eyes, making a career high 24 starts and pitching well (30 K’s in 27 innings) in his short stint with the 51’s to end the year. I was able to see Lugo multiple times in person this year when he was with Binghamton and came away thinking I saw a future 4th/5th starter in the big leagues.

I talked to a couple of scouts after they had seen Lugo for the first time and they all used the word projectability for him, thinking he could be a back of the rotation starter. I know from talking to a few sources that he was a hot topic when the Mets were talking trades during the deadline.

The first thing you will notice when you watch him pitch is all the different velocity readings on the radar gun, he loves to mix it up. He throws a two-seamer early in the count at 88-89 MPH, dials it up to 93-94 with the four seamer and has a very good curveball that he uses as a swing and miss pitch when he is ahead in the count. Could probably stand to use his curveball more earlier in the count while his changeup is still a developing pitch.

When I talked to Seth earlier this offseason he was participating in the Mike Barwis program in hopes of strengthening his core and maybe adding a few digits on the fastball. The Mets saw enough from him this year to add him to their 40-man roster this offseason protecting him from the Rule 5 draft.

He should be slated for the Triple-A Las Vegas rotation for the start of the season and could be one of the first options to make a spot start if an injury occurs in the big leagues.

#13 Jhoan Urena, #14 Gabriel Ynoa, #15 Ali Sanchez, #16 Luis Guillorme, #17 Chris Flexen, #18 Max Wotell, #19 Milton Ramos, #20 Akeel Morris, 25-21, 30-26 35-31, 40-36, 45-41, 50-46, 60-51, 70-61, 80-71