San Diego Padres: Joey Lucchesi To Start On Friday!

We have some potentially big news out of San Diego Padres camp before the first pitch has been thrown! Will a highly-touted rookie make his big debut for the Friars on Friday?

Pump the brakes! Fans haven’t even downed their first cold beverage at Petco Park yet, however, a bombshell was just dropped by San Diego Union Tribune’s Jeff Sanders.

No starting pitcher has been announced for Friday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Originally, Dinelson Lamet was slotted in behind Clayton Richard in the rotation. With Lamet expected to miss at least a month (fingers crossed it’s not more), Andy Green named Robbie Erlin to the initial 25-man roster.

Now, it appears Joey Lucchesi has made his way to Petco Park. Could it be? Could it mean that the rookie will make his major league debut Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers?

Many fans have loudly expressed concerns about Lucchesi’s service time if the Padres were to bring him up to start the season. So we want to win now, but not right now? At the moment, Tyson Ross is the second best pitcher on the Padres’ roster. Where is he at? He’s still in Arizona because he’s not ready to go, at the moment. Call me old school, but I’m of the mindset that you put your best players on the field, regardless of age.

A 4th-round pick in the 2016 draft, Luchessi has not pitched higher than Double-A. He made nine starts for San Antonio, posting a 1.79 ERA and 0.99 WHIP through 60 innings.

Lucchesi was the most talked about storyline this spring training. He allowed just two earned runs on five hits in 11 2/3 innings before being sent down to minor league camp the for the last week of spring.

UPDATE!!!

It’s official! Joey Lucchesi WILL be making his first career start tomorrow night!

Opening Day just got a little bit sweeter with this news! Lucchesi will toss his first professional pitch at 7:10 pm PT, tomorrow.