Joseph George Lucchesi was born June 6th 1993 in Newark, California. The six foot five, left hander grew up a fan of the Oakland A's, during their Moneyball days. His favorite pitchers were Barry Zito, Mark Mulder & Rich Harden.He attended Southeast Missouri State University & was the ace of their pitching staff, getting named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year in both, 2015 & 2016.
He was selected by the San Diego Padres in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
Trivia: His nickname is "Joey Fuego", he gained the name in college when he didn't have a sweater & was told to start a Twitter account, he used the name & it stuck.
He started 2017 at A ball Lake Elsinore & was promoted up to AA San Antonio, as he combined for an 11-7 record with a 2.20 overall ERA.
In 2018 he made the Padres staff & was the first pitcher from the 2016 draft to make the big leagues.
MLB Career: He debuted with his first career start, on March 30th, 2018 in the Padres second game of the year. He exited in after the 5th inning, having allowed three runs earning no decision. On April 10th he got his first career win, coming at Colorado. He would win three more games in April, including a 12-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field.
He would miss a month of action & make just one start at AAA El Paso before returning to the Padres rotation. 
For the year he made 26 starts going 8-9 with 145 strike outs in 130 innings, leading the staff in strike outs. He walked just 43 batters. He posted a 4.08 ERA & averaged just five innings per start.
He returned in 2019 to win ten games (10-10) on a Padre team that finished fifth at 70-92. He led the team in wins, starts (30) innings (163) & strike outs (158). He posted a 4.18 ERA, walked 56 batters & gave up 23 HRs.
In the 2020 Covid19 shortened season, he struggled early on & the Padres optioned him to
their alternate training site in early August. He pitched just three games going 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA.On January 19th 2011, he was part of a three team trade, with the Mets, Padres & Pirates, that sent him to the New York Mets.Mets Career: Lucchesi made his Mets debut on April 7th, coming in relief of an 8-2 loss to the Phillies in Philly.
On April 17th, he made his first Mets start, lasting just three innings allowing three runs on four hits, taking a loss in Colorado. His next start was similar, lasting three innings allowing three runs, but earned no decision, in a Mets loss at Wrigley Field.
On May 3rd, he fell to 0-2 getting rocked for six runs on seven hits, getting knocked out in the 2nd inning of a 6-5 Mets loss in St. Louis.
On May 8th, Lucchesi came in relief
of veteran, Tommy Hunter in the 3rd inning. Lucchesi would pitch 3.1 innings allowing just an unearned run & earning the victory in a 4-2 Mets win over Arizona, at Citi Field.
On May 15th, he took the loss giving up four runs by the 2nd inning. In his next start he was removed by the 4th inning, but had not allowed a run.
On June 4th, his old Padres team mate Manny Machado hit a 2nd inning HR off him. He took a loss despite only giving up the one run, as the Padres Blake Snell pitched seven shut out innings & the bullpen closed out the 2-0 Met loss.
When the Padres came to New York, he held them to a run in five innings, striking out six. Once again despite a good performance, the bullpen blew it & the Mets lost the game.
On June 18th he pitched 5.1 innings of shutout ball to the Nats in D.C. but once again was out pitched by Erick Fedde (seven innings) Kyle Finnegan & Brad Hand who shut out the Mets 1-0. Edwin Diaz took the Met loss in the 9th. In his last five starts, he had given up just one earned run, but had an 0-1 record with four no decisions in that time.
It turned out to be his last start, as he was diagnosed with a significant tear in his left elbow's ulnar collateral ligament. He underwent Tommy John surgery & his season was over. He is sidelined until at least August of 2022. Career Stats: through 5/11/21- In his four year career he is 19-24 with a 4.24 ERA. He struck out 349 batters & walked 112 batters in 337 innings of work in 64 games (61 starts). At the plate he is a .058 hitter (5-86) with two RBIs.
Trivia: His nickname is "Joey Fuego", he gained the name in college when he didn't have a sweater & was told to start a Twitter account, he used the name & it stuck.
For the year he made 26 starts going 8-9 with 145 strike outs in 130 innings, leading the staff in strike outs. He walked just 43 batters. He posted a 4.08 ERA & averaged just five innings per start.
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