Lugo Is All Royal

Royals right-hander Seth Lugo mows down Yankees on Tuesday night in the Bronx - Image Credit: MLB

BRONX, NY — Seth Lugo spent seven years across town at Citi Field with the Mets and posted career highs in appearances (62) and games finished (20) but there was that lingering amount of time working out of the bullpen.

Thing is, Lugo has always advocated about being a starter, the Mets thought they had other ideas and it became frustrating for the right-hander. The Mets decided not to offer a contract and in 2022, finished 9-7 with the Padres, though spending time on the injured list.

He is no longer in the bullpen and the Kansas City Royals are glad to have him as a viable starter after signing a three-year $45 million contract during the offseason, a role he enjoys as the Royals contend for an American League Wild Card spot.

And things are Royal for Lugo. The Mets as many have said should have never allowed a homegrown pitcher selected in the 34th round of the 2011 MLB draft to walk away but that’s the business of baseball.

So Tuesday evening in the Bronx it was all about Lugo. He returned to the other side of town and dominated the Yankees in notching his 16th win of the season, also giving more cause to be considered in the AL Cy Young Award discussion as the Royals with their 5-0 win evened their three-game series with the Yankees.

Lugo at one point retired 17 straight Yankees after a Gleyber Torres bloop single in the first inning, who got another single in the sixth. He struck out ten and seven innings were a first with no walks allowed. It was a dominant outing with a cutter, curveball, slider, and four-seam fastball that kept the Yankees off balance.

Seth Lugo, Painted 93mph Back Door Two Seamer. 🖌️🎨

9th K pic.twitter.com/I0exaASSDW

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 11, 2024

Then again, this is what Lugo has always had the capability of doing. Mets fans have looked at his year and wonder why they let him walk away?

Lugo tends to shy away from answering that question but always believed in his ability to start and win ball games whether it be with the Mets or another team. The Royals took the chance and he has developed to be elite with this win tying Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and Atlanta’s Chris Sale for most in the majors.

“Command — he always has the stuff, the pitches to keep them off balance,” said manager Matt Quatraro.”Was on the corners all night to get the breaking ball to get the swing and misses. It was a clinic of pitching.”

Seth Lugo, 3372 RPM Curveball. 🌪️

10th K pic.twitter.com/JJRAvkoERp

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 11, 2024

Lugo has said he had the mentality and physical strength to compile innings this season, though with the Royals competing for a postseason spot down the stretch, Quatraro did not want to push his starter after seven.

“He’s been so good for us through the course of the year the innings have been piling because he’s been so good,” he said. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he kept going there.”

But the Royals went to their bullpen and closed the door as Lugo is seven innings short of the 200-inning plateau. Four runs compiled on two two -run singles from perennial all-star Salvador Pérez who reached the 100-RBI plateau for the second time, a Tommy Pham home run, and a Bobby Witt Jr. RBI single.

Even the Yankees Juan Soto commented about how Lugo was pounding the strike zone.

“I think he was mixing up pitches really well tonight,” Soto said. “ He was pounding the strike zone. It’s tough with a guy who has like nine pitches, and he was showing every pitch today. So, he was throwing everything, he was confident about it, and he just kept us off balance.”

And if this was a preview of a possible postseason series, well the Yankees got a taste of why Lugo is indeed a Royal. But this was dominance and Lugo has been pounding the strike zone and getting outs all season for the Royals, 3-½ games behind first place Cleveland in the AL Central and 2 1⁄2 games ahead of the Twins for the second wild card.

As for Lugo, he said this was a great sort of NY homecoming, though memories of a Mets career and what could have been are not the center of attention. This is about Lugo being royal and helping his team to the postseason.

“I was locating all of my pitches and I don’t think there was a pitch that I didn’t think I could throw where I wanted,” Lugo said. “It was just one of those nights. I had everything working. That lineup is relentless so you don’t ever really get comfortable.”

He added about his Mets tenure, “I can’t fault them. I appreciate all of the opportunities they have given me. It is what it is. We are here now.”

He said the win was important coming off a loss Monday night. Then again every game forward is significant down the stretch of these last few weeks.His cutter (23 %), Curveball (16%) and four-seam fastball (14%) according to Pérez may have been Lugo’s best outing of the year. The Royals became the first team to hold the Yankees to no runs and walks with 14 strikeouts in their illustrious franchise history.

Regardless, it was dominant and Lugo is happy to have Pérez on his side. Many will recall Lugo was not a part of the Mets World Series 2015 team that fell short to Pérez and the Royals.

“If I do that, I’m trying to help my team win,” Pérez said about the 100 RBI. “That is the most important thing.”

“All season long he’s dangerous,” Lugo said about Pérez and reaching that 100 RBI mark But Lugo is Royal and if this dominance continues he will be hard to beat down the stretch and in a potential postseason.

Rich Mancuso is senior writer and contributor Latinosports.com – X (Twitter): @Ring786, Facebook.com.Rich Mancuso

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