Left-hander Joey Lucchesi pitched in 38 games last season for the Giants, recording a 3.76 ERA, after signing with them before spring training.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — During a key part of last season, Joey Lucchesi emerged to provide much needed — and, especially in July — excellent left-handed relief work for the San Francisco Giants.
Considering the number of question marks with the Giants bullpen, Lucchesi seemed a given to return this year, but talks with the team didn’t include a major-league offer.
“I felt like I did my job, respectfully,” Lucchesi said Wednesday. “I was healthy, as well. I’m healthy now. They had other visions, I guess. I can’t speak for them, but in my heart and mind I felt like I deserved a major-league contract.”
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Those offers never came from any club this winter, though, and this week, Lucchesi — who grew up a Giants fan in Newark — reunited with the team, which is thin in experienced left-handed relief pitching, particularly with Reiver Sanmartin out for up to three months with a severe hip-flexor strain.
“My agent told me, ‘Why don’t you just go back to the Giants? You know everyone there, you’re familiar with them,’ and that’s where I wanted to go in the first place,” said Lucchesi, who can make $1.55 million if he’s on the big-league roster. “So I’m here now and I’m happy to be here.”
The question now is: When will Lucchesi be ready, should the Giants decide he’s part of the bullpen? Opening Night is two weeks away.
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Lucchesi said he will be ready in time. He’s been working out with other free agents in Florida, so he’s thrown plenty of bullpens and he’s faced hitters, including Donovan Solano and Tommy Pham.
“I’m built up to 45 pitches already, just not in a big-league setting,” he said.
“He’s ready to go,” manager Tony Vitello said, adding that Lucchesi will face some Giants hitters to start off with before getting into games. “I think it’ll go faster than maybe people would expect.”
Lucchesi, 32, stepped up well last year in a similar situation, especially after the Giants placed primary lefty Erik Miller on the injured list in July. Lucchesi appeared in 11 games that month and didn’t allow a run.
“I feel like I just was in a zen flow state,” he said. “Everything I was throwing was coming out good, coming out hard, I was spotting everything.”
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Lucchesi worked even more the next month but got hit around a bit more, allowing runs in four of the 12 games he pitched, but he had a solid September and overall had a 3.76 ERA, holding lefties to a .219 average.
“I just think sometimes you run into bad luck, and I feel like maybe I just didn’t execute as well as I was when things were going well,” he said. “It’s also a mental game.”
Game action: Tyler Mahle improved to 3-0 with three scoreless innings Wednesday in the Giants’ 5-2 win over the Royals in Surprise, Ariz. He allowed a hit and three walks and struck out one. … Ryan Walker also worked a scoreless inning. … Jerar Encarnacion hit his first homer of the spring, a two-run shot. … Patrick Bailey doubled, walked twice and is batting .333.
Briefly: Infielder Christian Koss returned after the birth of his second child, a boy named Luca who was born Sunday and weighed in at 9 pounds. … Alumni in camp this week include Pablo Sandoval and Jeffrey Leonard.