Mets’ Former Southpaw Leaves MLB After Latest Cut

As the New York Mets prepare to offload valuable assets, former left-hander Joey Lucchesi has made a significant career decision, leaving affiliated baseball. Lucchesi, who spent parts of four seasons with the Mets as a starter and swingman, recently signed with Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines. Despite posting a strong 3.24 ERA in Triple-A with the Angels this season, the veteran never received a major league call-up. This move allows Lucchesi, who holds a 4.15 career MLB ERA, to continue pitching overseas in Nippon Professional Baseball. It offers an opportunity to rebuild his value and potentially secure a more lucrative deal, either in Japan or for a future return to Major League Baseball, rather than languishing in the minors.

The New York Mets are preparing to offload almost all of the valuable assets they can ahead of the trade deadline, but several former players have already begun making decisions about their futures away from Queens.

While the Mets continue evaluating ways to salvage some value from the season by trading away veteran pieces, one familiar left-hander has opted to leave affiliated baseball altogether rather than languish in the minors in hopes of another opportunity.

Mets fans will recall that Joey Lucchesi spent parts of four seasons with the team, filling roles as both a starter and swingman after arriving from the San Diego Padres. But last week, after bouncing around multiple organizations over the past few years, the veteran has found a new destination that effectively takes him out of the MLB picture for at least the rest of the season.

“The Chiba Lotte Marines are signing LHP Joey Lucchesi,” Japanese baseball outlet Yakyu Cosmopolitan reported on X. “Lucchesi, 33, has a career 4.15 ERA/4.20 FIP in 436.1 IP at the MLB level. He posted a 3.24 ERA with a 31.9 K% and 9.2 BB% in 33.1 IP at Triple-A Salt Lake this season.”

The move comes after Lucchesi spent the first half of 2026 pitching in Triple-A within the Los Angeles Angels organization. Despite posting strong strikeout numbers and a respectable ERA, he never earned a return to the majors.

Instead, the veteran left-hander will continue his career in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, joining the growing list of former MLB pitchers who have revitalized their careers there.

Lucchesi's move may not necessarily mark the end of his major league career, but it does signal that his immediate future lies outside North America.

“Lucchesi has pitched in eight of the past nine major league seasons, with the lone exception being a 2022 campaign lost to injury,” Steve Adams wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “He was a solid rotation piece with the Padres for his first two big league seasons in 2018-19 (293 2/3 innings, 4.14 ERA, 24.6 K%, 8.0 BB%) and had some decent stints as a swingman following a trade to the Mets. More recently, he’s begun to bounce around the league, pitching with three different organizations (Mets, Giants, Angels) in the past three seasons.”

All told, Lucchesi pitched more than 95 innings across three seasons with the Mets, logging a 3.78 ERA with 80 total strikeouts.

“He’ll spend the remainder of the season in Japan — likely earning more than he’d have secured on a minor league deal in North America — and reassess his market in the offseason,” Adams added. “A strong performance could set him up for a seven-figure guarantee overseas in 2027 or catch the attention of major league clubs in free agency this winter.”