Seth Lugo: Former Mets Reliever (2016 - 2022)

 Jacob Seth Lugo was born November 17th, 1989, in Shreveport Louisiana to his parents Ben & Vicki Lugo. The six foot four, right-handed Lugo attended Centenary College at Louisiana where he was studying to be a landman, majoring in geology. 

He was also a punter for his high school football team & a soccer goalie as well.

He was spotted by Mets scout Jimmy Nelson in the deep South & got an invite for a try out. The six foot four, right-handed pitcher signed out of a division 3 School (Centenary College of Louisiana) where he was signed in the 34th round of the 2011 draft, the 1032nd pick overall.

In 2011 he was diagnosed with Spondylolisthesis which is a displacement of vertebra in the spine, it required ten hours of surgery for repair. After the procedure he was bed ridden for three months & recuperated at his mother's home.

Quotes- Seth Lugo
 when he found out about the surgery- "Whoa. Hold on, I don't know if I want to do this. They kind of just reassured me it was a precaution they have to tell everyone. But that was the only time it really hit me that, whoa, this is a lot more serious than I thought."

As he recovered, he could barely move for three months of bed rest. He missed all of the 2012 season & came back with a new focus. In 2013 he pitched at A ball Brooklyn going 2-4 for the Cyclones, before getting promoted to A ball Savannah.

In 2014 he was 8-3 with three saves, striking out 114 batters in 105 innings posting a 4.11 ERA with the A ball St. Lucie Mets. He became a promising young pitcher despite his odds to make it. 

He got promoted to the AA Binghamton Mets in 2015, going 6-5 with a 3.80 ERA. He struck out  97 batters & walked 30 in 109 innings pitched finishing 19 games for the AA Mets. 

Lugo was promoted to AAA Las Vegas going 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA for the 51s. He was invited to the 2016 Mets Spring Training.

He started the year at AAA Las Vegas, not having a very good year. He went 3-4 with a 6.50 ERA, striking out 62 batters in 73 innings of work. The Mets still promoted him to the majors on June 30th. He was sent back down on July 2nd, but returned four days later when Matt Harvey went down for the season.

Mets Career:  Lugo would pitch in relief until mid-August when he turned his season around & helped the Mets capture the NL's top wild card spot. He had taken a relief loss in the subway series giving up a 10th inning run, and then took a loss in his first start which came in San Francisco against the Giants.

On August 25th, he helped the Mets sweep the Cardinals, which was the start of their wild card demise. He shut out St. Louis for five innings striking out five, before leaving the game with muscle cramps. He still went on to earn his first win. In his next start he beat the Miami Marlins at Citi Field to get to 2-2.

On September 4th, he pitched seven innings allowing just one run beating the Washington Nats at Citi Field 5-1.  He followed that with a September 11th win at Atlanta beating the Braves & getting his record to 4-2, while lowering his ERA to 2.40.

He pitched well in his next two starts in which the Mets won & closed out his season with a big win in Miami Florida, beating the Marlins on September 28th, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings while striking out just two & walking three.

2016 Post Season: Lugo was scheduled to pitch the NLDS, but the Mets lost the Wild Card game ending their season. 

Lugo was a big surprise in the 2016 Mets rotation, helping them catch the wild card spot. He went 5-2 with a 2.67 ERA, striking out 45 batters & walking 21 in 64 innings pitched in 17 games.

2017: Entering the 2017 season, Lugo was up against Robert Gsellman for the fifth starters spot. All that was soon to change. Lugo pitched for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, there he suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament, missing the first two months of the season.

He joined the club on July 11th in Atlanta. There he pitched seven solid innings, allowing just one run striking out six Braves, in a Mets 2-1 win. In his next start he allowed three runs to the Nats as he & the Mets took a 7-4 loss. Lugo then won two more games beating the Giants in San Francisco & the Marlins in South Florida.

On the 4th of July he allowed six runs on ten hits to the Nationals in D.C taking his second loss. That earned a stint of relief on July 9th in a 6-0 Mets loss in St. Louis.

First Career HR: On Saturday July 15th, he hit his first career HR in a game he won against the Colorado Rockies. As he entered the dugout, the team jokingly ignored him before eventually mobbing to congratulate him.

That was followed by a no decision against the St. Louis Cardinals where he allowed just one run in 6.2 innings of work. The Mets won the game 3-2. His next start came in San Diego, it wasn't too strong but earned him his 5th win (5-2).

On July 30th, he took a loss in Seattle as the Mariners trounced the Mets 9-1. In August he had three no decisions & once again went on the DL.

In September he returned to a beaten Mets staff, taking a loss against the Houston Astros, allowing four runs in five innings in his return from the DL. On September 8th, he beat the Cincinnati Reds shutting them out for six innings. In his next start the Cubs rocked him for eight runs at Wrigley Field.

On September 25th he won his seventh game to end the year at 7-5 with 1 4.71 ERA, striking out 85 batters walking 25 in 101 innings of work in 119 games.

2018: Lugo started out the 2018 season with a hold in the Mets fourth game of the season, helping Matt Harvey in a 2-0 win. 

On April 8th he held the Nats down for three innings, earning a win in D.C. after Yoenis Cespedes singled the winning run in, in the top of the 12th. He would earn three more holds before blowing a game & taking a loss on May 28th in Atlanta.

Subway Series: On June 10th he got the start & earned a win in the subway series, striking out eight while pitching six shutout innings, with just two hits allowed. He would start four games in the month, to help an injured staff, but took two losses.

In July he was back in the bullpen & quickly earned a Fourth of July win in relief in Toronto. In August he earned his first save of the year, he earned two more in September to go along with his 11 holds on the year.

In 54 appearances (third most on the club) he made 5 starts, he was 3-4 with three saves & 13 games finished. He struck out 103 batters in 101 innings (5th most on the staff) while walking 28.

2019: Lugo was to be an important part of the Mets bullpen in 2019. He filled in as a set up man, middle reliever & eventually closer, becoming one of the most important as well as popular Mets players.

He earned holds in the first two games of the season. On April 19th, he earned his first win pitching the 5th & 6th innings at St. Louis. On May7th he got win #2 at San Diego.

In June he did earn his third win & lowered his ERA to 2.23 by June 21st. But you could also say, he had his worst month, two blown saves & two blown losses in the month had his ERA go to 3.60 by July 1st. He also had 11 holds to that point.

NL Reliever of the Month: By July he was coming into his own, becoming the team's best reliever. He won the NL Reliever of the Month Award, an award he said he didn't even know existed. In 13 innings he allowed no runs & just three hits while striking out 16 batters walking just one. 

On July 2nd, he earned a win, which came in the subway series. On July 26th, he recorded his fist save of the season, it came during the Mets seven game win streak.

With high priced closer, Edwin Diaz struggling, Lugo's name kept coming up as his replacement. Lugo also collected six holds in July, giving him a total of 17.

As the Mets winning streak continued, they found themselves in the wild card race. On August 5th, he collected his second save, in a 5-4 win over the Marlins at home. In an exciting Citi Field win over the Nationals, he earned the victory when Luis Guillimore tied the game with a HR & JD drove in the winning run on a sac fly.

His worst outing came on August 14th in Atlanta. He allowed five runs in less than inning of work in a Mets loss. But after that Lugo did not allow a run for nearly a month, from August 16th to September 15th, collecting three more saves & two more wins. 

Since the All-Star break, he was 2-1 with five saves & a 1.86 ERA, before giving up a run to lose a September 15th game, against the LA Dodgers. 

Three days later he earned another win, pitching two scoreless innings in Colorado. On September 27th, his last outing of the year he collected his sixth save.

For the 2019 season he was 7-4 with a 2.70 ERA & six saves. He struck out 104 batters & walked 16 in 80 innings of work, finishing off 14 games in 61 appearances.

2020: In the Covid shortened 2020 season, he went 3-4 with a 5.15 ERA posting three saves.

2021: He began the year having surgery on his right elbow & went on the 60-day IL. He returned in June & in his first outing blew a save in Arizona, although the Mets went on to a 7-6 win. After getting credit for three holds he earned his first save on June 15th.

On June 25th he pitched an inning against the Phillies & earned a win when Dom Smith won the game with a walk off single. On July 1st he collected his first loss coming in Atlanta to the Braves. On July 5th he earned another win at Milwaukee & another vs. the Blue Jays on July 25th, when Pete Alonso & Jeff McNeil bailed him out after he had given up two runs in the top of the inning.

The Mets began August still two games up in first place, Lugo would take another loss & earned three more holds in the month. Everything went wrong with the Mets that month as they found themselves five games out by September 1st.

On September 4th he allowed a HR to the Nats Andrew Stevenson, blowing the save in an 11-9 Mets loss. Lugo earned a win in the September 12th subway series pitching a perfect 8th inning & Francisco Lindor hit a tie breaking HR in the bottom of the 8th. He finished the year with another blow save on September 29th.

For 2021 he was 4-3 with three saves, 15 holds & a 3.50 ERA. He struck out 55 batters & walked 19 in 46.1 innings of work in 46 appearances, finishing off ten games.

2022: Lugo began the season with a hold in the second game of the season. On April 11th he blew a save serving up a pair of 8th inning runs to the Phillies taking a loss. On April 22nd, he pitched a scoreless 10th inning earning a save against Arizona.

Combined No Hitter: On April 29th, he pitched the final two outs of the 8th inning in the Mets combined no hitter against the Phillies at Citi Field. It was just the second no hitter in Mets history.

On May 2nd he collected his second save & would then earn five holds into early June. On June 5th in Los Angeles, he gave up a HR to the Dodgers Will Smith in the 9th inning then two more hits resulting in the Dodgers tying up the game. The Mets JD Davis bailed him out with a 10th inning RBI double.

On June 19th, he was clinging to a one run lead against the Marlins, but then gave up a grand
slam HR to Jerar Encarnacion & an RBI double to Jon Berti taking a loss. He took another loss on July 4th in Cincinnati.

Another Subway Series Win: On July 27th, in the subway series he earned his second win pitching 1.2 innings in relief of Max Scherzer & finishing off a 3-2 Mets win. The Mets won it on Starling Marte's walk off single.

 In his career he was 4-1 against the A.L. New York team with a 2.53 ERA in 12 appearances. The four wins are tied with the Braves for his career wins against all teams.

In August he collected four holds & another win. In September the Mets saw their first-place lead slowly fade, losing it after a three-game sweep in Atlanta. That weekend Lugo appeared in two games giving up a run in the 5-3 loss on Sunday. 

2022 Post Season: Lugo made his first post season appearance in the NLWC series appearing in three games of the loss to the Padres.

In the off season he was granted free agency & signed with the San Diego Padres.

Post Mets Career: In 2023 he finally became a starter like he wanted to for years, he went 8-7 with a 3,57 ERA for the third place Padres. After the season he opted out & signed with the Kansas City Royals.

Career Stats: In his eight-year career Lugo is 40-31 with a 3.50 ERA. He struck out 648 batters & walked 173 in 641 innings of work. He has 16 saves & finished 66 games, while making 64 starts in 301 appearances.

Family: Seth is married to the former Amanda Vogle, they married in January 2018. Together
they have two children.

In June 2022 his 19-month-old son needed heart surgery to repair two holes in his heart. The surgery was done at a hospital in Memphis Tennessee, five hours from the Lugo's home. Luckily the surgery was a success.