Joey

Lucchesi

Lucchesi returns to Los Angeles on a new minor league pact after making five relief appearances earlier this season. The 32-year-old southpaw is merely emergency organizational depth at this stage of his career.

Lucchesi will test the open market after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 32-year-old southpaw has been hit hard in five relief appearances during a pair of stint with Los Angeles this season. It’s possible he’ll reunite with the Angels on a brand-new minor league pact in the coming days.

The 32-year-old southpaw had been designated for assignment on Wednesday after a disastrous outing. For now it appears as though he’ll accept the assignment and head to Triple-A Salt Lake where he’ll continue to operate as extra pitching depth for the Halos.

Lucchesi allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings for the Angels this season. However, he does have a 4.15 ERA in 436 1/3 career MLB innings, so there is a chance that some team tries to claim him on waivers.

The Angels already had a lefty in the game in Brent Suter, but they wanted to put in more of a power guy to face Caglianone’s power. What followed was a 109-mph homer. The Angels took another blown save in the 10th, as Joey Lucchesi, pitching with a one-run lead in the Angels debut, gave up a three-run homer to lose the game. The Halos’ pen is even more of a mess now with Jordan Romano gone. Maybe Kirby Yates or Ben Joyce will eventually fix things in the ninth, but no one seems trustworthy at the moment. If one absolutely had to roster a currently active Angels reliever, Sam Bachman, who gave up two runs while getting three outs tonight, is probably the best option.

Lucchesi was re-signed to a minor league contract a couple of weeks ago after he had been released and tested the open market. He’ll add another option to the middle of an Angels’ bullpen that’s desperate for anyone that can consistently get outs.

Lucchesi spent a couple days on the open market before ultimately deciding to return to Los Angeles on a minor league deal. The 32-year-old lefty made three appearances for the Angels at the outset of the season shortly after being cut loose by the Giants. He’s merely emergency organizational relief depth at this stage of his career.

Lucchesi will test the open market rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 32-year-old southpaw allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings during a pair of relief appearances for the Angels prior to being designated for assignment over the weekend.

Lucchesi struggled in his three appearances out of the Angels’ bullpen, posting a miserable 7.71 ERA, 3.43 WHIP and a 2/4 K/BB ratio over 2 1/3 innings. He has had enough success at the big league level that another bullpen-needy team may be willing to take a chance on him on waivers.

The deal is now official. Lucchesi will make Los Angeles’ season-opening roster in a long relief role after being released by the Giants earlier this week. The 32-year-old southpaw figures to operate in a swingman-type role for the Angels at the outset of the season. He made a career-high 38 appearances for the Giants last year, finishing with a respectable 3.76 ERA and 31/12 K/BB ratio across 38 1/3 innings.