San Diego Padres: Joey Lucchesi looks for a win against the Diamondbacks

Joey Lucchesi is on the mound for the Friars tonight, who are in need of a win to snap their four-game losing streak.

These last few games haven’t been pretty. Between extra inning collapses, and a first-inning collapse for their young starter Jacob Nix, they Padres could definitely use a little good fortune on their side. Lucchesi needs to be more than just lucky against a line-up that battered around Nix last night. He needs to be as dominant, if not more so than he was in his last start against the Phillies.

The good news is, that Lucchesi looks to be trending in the right direction. His last start was one of his longest since April 15th and he shut the Phils out for six innings only giving up two hits. The start before that, in Chicago, he struck out nine batters in what would ultimately be a no-decision. In his last seven games, he has a 3.28 ERA, and so far in the month of August, has a 1.58 ERA. If he can continue his last two that dominance from his last two starts against Philly and in Chicago, it will be some of the lowest numbers he’s put up on the board since April.

What’s caused some inconsistency for Lucchesi this year could also be attributed to the fact that he’s been back and forth to the DL quite a few times. And while it’s not yet a major cause for concern, it’s definitely easier for a young pitcher to continue to develop if he can keep himself healthy enough to make his starts every five days.

The Padres haven’t had much to get excited about in a season where it’s likely they could lose 90 or more games. Lucchesi at the very least gives us all a little taste of what a potential future will look like. Don’t worry, we’re almost there.