Seth

Lugo

Lugo also walked four batters on the evening while punching out four. He allowed a run in the fourth inning on an RBI double off the bat of Colson Montgomery, then kept the White Sox at bay until they scratched out an unearned run while chasing him in the seventh. Lugo generated eight whiffs on 92 pitches on the evening, registering a CSW of 23 percent. The 36-year-old righty has been exceptional through his first three starts, posting a 1.53 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 14/6 K/BB ratio over 17 2/3 innings. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling when he takes on the Tigers in Detroit on Wednesday.

The Royals didn’t bust out until the bottom of the sixth, so Lugo, who needed to throw 64 pitches between the third and fourth innings, wasn’t involved in the decision. He’ll be a solid play in mixed leagues with the White Sox next on the schedule.

Lugo gave up long drives to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II that looked like homers off the bat, but both turned into outs. Harris’s was especially ridiculous; according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, the drive’s combination of 108-109 mph of exit velocity and a 27-degree launch angle produced homers 70 of the 72 times it happened last year. But even if those balls had left the yard, this still would have been a solid showing for Lugo. He struck out three and walked none while throwing 55 of his 77 pitches for strikes. He’ll face the Brewers next.

Lugo, who was pitching in a game for the first time since being pulled in the first inning of Team Puerto Rico’s loss to Italy on March 14, struck out four and got up to 82 pitches today. His velocity was up 0.5-1 mph from last year, so while the Royals couldn’t have been happy about that very early exit in the WBC, it seems he’s completely set for the start of the regular season. He’ll face the Braves on Sunday.

It had already been announced that Cole Ragans would pitch against the Braves in Atlanta on Opening Day. He’ll be followed by Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, with Noah Cameron rounding out the rotation and pitching on Wednesday against the Twins. It’s possible that Cameron could actually get pushed back to Thursday with Ragans working Wednesday on regular rest, but they may not want to push their ace so early in the season.

Two walks and three singles were enough to doom Lugo today. If the game had been played under spring training rules, perhaps Lugo would have come back out for the second and settled in just fine. As is, though, Puerto Rico figured it had little choice but to make the move, and the Royals were probably happy, given that Lugo had already thrown 25 pitches in the first. It was a rough day for Puerto Rico, but nothing changed about Lugo’s outlook in this one.

Edwin Díaz finished things off in the ninth, striking out three of the four batters he faced. Puerto Rico got all of its runs in the fifth, with a Gio Urshela error providing an assist. The game featured just one extra-bae hit, a double from Willi Castro that made it 4-0 in the fifth. Puerto Rico actually didn’t have a hit aside from that inning.

Lugo was able to fan four, which is good, but he also allowed six hits with two of them leaving the park, which is not. The 36-year-old likely has made his last spring start for the next few weeks, as he’ll be the ace of the Puerto Rico staff in the WBS beginning Wednesday.

Lugo averaged 92.5 mph with his fastball today, which is a bit ahead of last year’s mark of 91.7 mph. He probably got started a little earlier than usual in his spring prep, as he’s being counted on to serve as Puerto Rico’s ace in the WBC.

Puerto Rico’s roster has been devastated by the tournament’s issue securing insurance for players, with Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Victor Caratini, José Berríos and Emilio Pagán all having to stay home. The team has little rotation depth behind Lugo, although Yankees prospect Elmer Rodríguez might surprise. The lineup could look something like: RF Heliot Ramos, CF Willi Castro, DH Eddie Rosario, 3B Nolan Arenado, 1B Emmanuel Rivera, C Christian Vázquez, LF Carlos Cortes/MJ Melendez, SS Edwin Arroyo, 2B Darell Hernaiz.