Padres News: Seth Lugo Reflects on His Worst 2023 Pitching Performance

He came into the game ready to perform but just could not follow up.

Much of the San Diego Padres' 2023 problems have revolved around their offense. Despite some improved play from Juan Soto and some series in which they have been able to completely rake, they still sit among the worst teams in the league when it comes to overall batting stats.

This is a roster in which Peter Seidler and the rest of the front office went all-in on the offense and even though the pitching staff features some respected names, there hasn't been that one guy that has been stellar every time that he takes the mound.

Seth Lugo’s curveball is beautiful. pic.twitter.com/ovfUpga6Ga

— Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) April 3, 2023

Coming into the Padres' Tuesday night outing against the Kansas City Royals, Lugo was posting an ERA of 3.18 after two straight solid performances but it all came crashing down. He only lasted two innings due to a strained calf.

Unfortunately, prior to the injury, Lugo allowed all five of the runs that KC would score for the game and put the Friars in a huge hole off the jump.

Seth Lugo exits Tuesday with mild calf strain https://t.co/cbnPEm5trK

— Rotoworld Baseball (@rotoworld_bb) May 17, 2023

Nonetheless, the blame should not be all on Lugo. Pitchers do have slip-ups every now and then no matter how good of a stretch they've been on previously.

San Diego has plenty of struggles right now and they possessed the talent to be able to come back but ended up falling one run short.

Lugo touched on his poor performance before his injury and said he simply fell behind in the count.

“I thought I made a couple of good pitches, didn’t get a couple of calls,” Lugo said. “But then come back in the zone with some predictable pitches over the heart of the plate and they just found some holes.”

(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)

Let's hope that this injury is not something that lingers and Lugo is back in prime form soon.