Griffin Canning’s season is over after he ruptured his Achilles during Thursday night’s game against Atlanta. The injury leaves the Mets scrambling to find rotation help as they push toward October.
It’s the latest blow to a starting staff that’s been decimated by injuries. Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea and Tylor Megill are all on the injured list, though those three should return before season’s end.
What makes this situation particularly frustrating? The Mets have baseball’s best starter ERA when healthy. But depth like this gets tested in a hurry.
Canning had been solid for the Mets after coming over from the Angels. Now they need to replace his production, and FanSided’s Christopher Kline floated an intriguing possibility: bringing back Seth Lugo from Kansas City.
“It has been an impressive late-career reinvention for the Kansas City Royals righty, who uncorks a deep arsenal of pitches, including a nice cutter that avoids the meat of the bat and sets up his defense for success. Lugo won’t pound the strike zone for punchouts, but he has five straight seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA, including a starting career-best of 2.93 this season.”
Lugo spent seven seasons in Queens and posted a 3.48 ERA during that run. He’s reinvented himself as a starter with the Royals and earned an All-Star nod last year.
The timing could work. Kansas City sits at 38-43 and trails the wild card by 3½ games entering Friday’s action. They’re prime candidates to become deadline sellers if they can’t turn things around quickly.
That’s where Lugo becomes interesting for the Mets. He’s a pending free agent, so the Royals won’t get a massive return. But he knows the organization and has shown he can handle the New York pressure.
The Mets need innings from reliable arms. Lugo’s track record suggests he can provide exactly that down the stretch.
