Mets scratch Adrian Houser from Phillies start, plan to call up Joey Lucchesi from Triple-A
Mets right-hander Adrian Houser will no longer start Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia against the Phillies. Instead, the team plans to call up left-hander Joey Lucchesi from Triple-A to fill the starting role, per the New York Post.
With Jose Butto giving New York just five innings of work and the bullpen already shorthanded, manager Carlos Mendoza was forced to warm up Houser twice during Tuesday afternoon’s 4-0 loss, so he is no longer available to start.
“We knew coming in that we were shorthanded and I talked to him and he said he was available and ready to go, which says a lot about who he is and what he’s willing to do for the team,” Mendoza said of Houser.
“We were trying to stay away the whole time but we knew that we had him available in case of an emergency and we had to use all of the guys that were available today and that’s just what happened.”
Houser struggled mightily over his first few outings as a Met, posting an 8.16 ERA and 1.84 WHIP while walking 20 batters and striking out just 16 before being moved to the bullpen to work through his mechanics.
The 31-year-old put together a successful first relief outing, working around two walks and a hit across two scoreless innings of work in New York’s 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves this past weekend.
Houser was on track to get another shot to show what he can do in the rotation, but it appears he’ll have to wait a bit longer.
On the other hand, Lucchesi has been pitching well for Triple-A Syracuse this season, owning a 2.58 ERA (1.30 WHIP) in 38.1 innings across seven starts.
In nine starts last season, the lefty impressed with a 4-0 record and a 2.89 ERA (1.31 WHIP).
