After suffering several reliever injuries, particularly from the left side, the San Francisco Giants have reunited with a veteran who delivered solid production last season.
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi has re-signed with the Giants, first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s a minor league agreement that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Lucchesi will earn $1.55 millio. He also has the opportunity to make an extra $300K via incentives.
The 32-year-old Lucchesi has spent parts of seven seasons in the big leagues. After debuting with the San Diego Padres in 2018, he’s bounced around to the New York Mets and then the Giants. Lucchesi delivered a 3.76 ERA across 38 appearances out of the San Francisco bullpen in 2025.
San Francisco Giants Reunite with Joey Lucchesi on $1.55 Million Deal
The Giants’ offseason has been marred by injuries, particularly on the pitching side. Just last week, right-hander Joel Peguero suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin went down with a hip flexor injury. Fellow lefty Erik Miller has been working through lower back tightness and has been delayed this spring. Left-hander Sam Hentges is recovering from knee surgery, while Jason Foley is working his way back from a shoulder procedure.
It’s been a tough spring for a unit that doesn’t have much depth to begin with. The bullpen will be without Randy Rodriguez and Rowan Wick, who are recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Giants dealt Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees and Tyler Rogers to the New York Mets at the 2025 trade deadline.
The current iteration of the bullpen is down to just Matt Gage as far as healthy left-handed options. Miller should be back by the time the season starts, but the timelines for Hentges and Sanmartin are less certain. Lucchesi would fill a clear need if he were to make the team.
Joey Lucchesi Earns Another Contract After Strong Bounceback Season
The veteran left-hander had nearly faded out of the league after 2024. Lucchesi was blasted for a 5.23 ERA in two starts with the Mets. After working almost exclusively as a starter in his big-league career, he latched on with the Giants as a reliever. Lucchesi’s sinker velocity jumped from 89.8 mph in 2024 to 92.5 mph out of the bullpen for San Francisco last year. After posting a 96 Stuff+ in 2023 and a 95 mark in 2024, Lucchesi bumped the number to 101 as a reliever.
Lucchesi technically has three pitches, but considering two of them are fastballs, he’s basically a two-pitch guy. The lefty has a four-seamer and a sinker to go with a curveball. The hook is an interesting one. Lucchesi’s curveball had nearly eight inches less vertical drop last season compared to similar offerings from his release point and velocity. It almost acts like a changeup, given the lack of the typical downward curveball movement.
The improvement in velocity, coupled with the unique curveball, helped Lucchesi hold batters to a 31.7% hard-hit rate last season. He limited barrels to a career-best 6.7% clip. The curveball in particular got strong results, limiting opponents to a .190 batting average.
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