4 years agoSan Diego Padres left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi has been removed both from the team’s starting rotation and its active roster, as the southpaw was sent to the team’s alternate training location ahead of Friday’s contest. Batters haven’t hit Lucchesi particularly hard to open 2020 (average 83.2 MPH exit velocity with zero barrels), but he is in the bottom five percentile of the Majors with a .362 xBA against. With fireballing prospect Luis Patino called up to the Majors earlier in the week, it appeared there was one starter too many in the San Diego rotation; for now, Lucchesi will be the odd man out, even after having averaged better than a strikeout per inning through his first 58 big league starts. He can safely be placed on the waiver wire in all season-long formats.--Jesse Borek
Source: AJ Cassavell