Seth Lugo reflects on his season as the San Diego Padres’ starting pitcher.
Lugo pitched 8 2/3 innings of three-hit ball, striking out seven and walking none in a 4-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California. He threw a whopping 123 pitches.
This will be his final start of the season unless he pitches in the season finale five days later. He finished the season with a solid 8-7 record and a 3.57 ERA.
Considering it was his first season as a full-time starter, this is a very encouraging result.
In his postgame interview, Lugo reflected on the season, saying, “I know we’re not in a position to enjoy our record right now, but I’ve had a great experience with this team, with the players, with the coaching staff,” he said.
“He’s helped me a lot to become a better pitcher,” he said, specifically mentioning pitching coach Ruben Niebla.
“I was able to learn more than I expected in preparation for the season, and that’s the biggest thing I got out of it,” he said, adding that he learned a lot from the new challenge.
“I feel really good right now. I’m mentally confident. I feel like I have one or two more starts left in me. I’m ready for whatever happens next,” he said.
Manager Bob Melvin said, “I was planning on giving him 125 pitches. He looked a little tired. I really wanted him to go the distance,” said Melvin, who was disappointed that Lugo wasn’t able to finish the game.메이저놀이터
“He was ready to start and his mindset was that he was going to get through the innings. I think he had a really good season. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that he would have done this, I think everyone would have been surprised,” he said, congratulating him on a successful season.
When asked what made the transition so smooth, he said, “His mindset.” “I talked to him at the beginning of the season about innings pitched and things like that, and he said he was ready to start and that he was confident he could pitch as many innings as any other starter,” he said, emphasizing that he came into the season already with a starter’s mindset.