[ad_1]
PORT ST. LUCIE — Seth Lugo stopped throwing for three or four weeks during the offseason just to heal emotionally and focus on a more important entity.
For months the Mets reliever had understood his 2-year-old son, James, would need heart surgery. Initially Lugo and his wife Amanda thought that surgery would occur in October. When it finally happened in December, James Lugo’s recovery became his dad’s focus.
The younger Lugo had a hole in his heart that needed repair. As doctors performed the surgery, a second hole was detected. That, too, got fixed.
“December through February we were pretty gentle with him,” Lugo said Friday. “He bounced back real quickly, but it was tough on us.”
Lugo was told that without the surgery, James would be at risk for various complications as he got older. At 20 years old, heart palpitations and shortness of breath could be a problem. In his 30s and 40s he would face a significant risk of stroke.
As much as it troubled Lugo to put his young son through the ordeal, he knew the surgery was the only real option.
“It’s over with,” Lugo said. “Physically there are no limitations.”
Fast forward to Thursday, and Lugo again faced the stress of parenthood. While at Clover Park and preparing for his Grapefruit League debut, he received a message from his wife that James had developed a swelling around the knee and couldn’t walk. Worried, Lugo enlisted the Mets in helping him find a doctor. James was examined. The diagnosis was a cold caused the inflammation. Relieved, Lugo rushed back to the ballpark, arriving in the middle innings.
He told manager Buck Showalter he wanted the ball.
“I was pissed off enough that I was ready to throw,” said Lugo, who fired a scoreless eighth inning against the Marlins.
For the 32-year-old Lugo, the stress of a baseball game can’t match real life. Last year was a typically dependable season from the right-hander, who pitched to a 3.50 ERA in 46 appearances. He joins Trevor May, Adam Ottavino and Miguel Castro in giving Showalter proven options to set up closer Edwin Diaz.
But it’s a reliever who didn’t return that provided Lugo with ideas on how to elevate his game. Lugo credits Aaron Loup, the Mets’ best reliever from last season (he signed with the Angels in November), for setting an example he would like to follow.
“Watching him throw last year I picked up quite a few things from the way he approaches the day to day basis, showing up to the park,” Lugo said. “He’s really laid back and doesn’t let stuff rattle him. The way he went about his business I’m trying to pick up a little bit of that.
“Especially with the way his career has been, he talked a little bit about it last year, he tried too hard or let stuff get to him because he cared too much, but just have fun. As he said, his career almost ended with a couple of his injuries, but go out there and have fun with it. That’s what he did. The results are there.”
Along those lines, Lugo says he is taking the approach he doesn’t have anything to prove on the mound, even as he prepares for free agency after this season.
Lugo is still open about the fact he views himself as a starting pitcher. But once the season begins, it will be full throttle ahead as a reliever. Twice in his career Lugo has been asked to stretch out as a starter during the season. Now he doesn’t want to even consider the idea.
“Not this year, but I’m a starter at heart,” Lugo said. “But I don’t want to start midseason — that is not for me anymore. It’s not fun. I have done it multiple times and you just set yourself up for failure. It’s almost impossible to get in shape to throw 100 pitches on the fly. You need months of training for that.”
[ad_2]