Goldeyes sign ex-MLBer Josh Lucas

The Winnipeg Goldeyes have signed former major league right-hander Josh Lucas. Photo: Winnipeg Goldeyes/Twitter

January 25, 2022

By Steve Schuster

Winnipeg Goldeyes

The Winnipeg Goldeyes signed former major league right-handed pitcher Josh Lucas on Tuesday.

Lucas signed with the Goldeyes for the 2021 season before his contract was purchased by the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first week of training camp. Lucas was assigned to the triple-A West’s Reno Aces where he made five relief appearances.

Lucas first joined the Goldeyes at the end of 2020, posting a 1.20 ERA in two starts and one relief outing. The Lakeland, Fla., native struck out 18 and walked only two in 15 innings. On the final day of the season (September 10 versus Milwaukee), Lucas fanned 13 batters, walked none, and allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings in an eventual Goldeyes’ victory.

During a start on September 4 at St. Paul, Lucas produced Trackman-confirmed average spin rates of 2,453, 2,470, and 2,698 revolutions per minute on his four-seam fastball, cut fastball and slider respectively. All three spin rates ranked well above that year’s major league averages.

“We’re happy Josh is coming back,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. “We’re looking to strengthen that starting rotation and Josh is a quality guy who knows what he wants to do on the mound. He does a really good job of making in-game adjustments, reading swings, and reading hitters. He’s still very hungry to continue his career, and I think he’s going to have a nice bounce-back season for us.”

Lucas enters his 12th season of professional baseball, and was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 21st round in 2010 out of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (Bradenton, Florida).

The 31-year-old right-hander first reached the major leagues in 2017 where he made five relief appearances for St. Louis. The following season, Lucas appeared in eight games for the Oakland Athletics, and returned to the majors again in 2019 with the Baltimore Orioles. During his time in Baltimore, Lucas fanned 16 batters over 15 2/3 frames, and earned his first career major league save after working three scoreless innings on May 25 at Colorado’s Coors Field. In total, Lucas has 37 strikeouts in 37 1/3 major league innings, setting down the likes of Tim Anderson, Cavan Biggio, Curtis Granderson, Brandon Lowe and Andrew McCutchen.

The 6-foot-6, 185-pound Lucas is 25-21 lifetime with 57 saves and a 3.84 ERA in 280 career professional outings, and has averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings against only 2.7 walks.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes now have eight players signed to contracts for the 2022 season. American Association clubs may carry up to 30 players during spring training, which begins May 5.

2022 Winnipeg Goldeyes Player Signings

OF Tyler Hill

RHP Josh Lucas

OF Max Murphy

RHP Luis Ramirez

LHP Travis Seabrooke

LHP Tasker Strobel

RHP Jhon Vargas

1B David Washington

The Winnipeg Goldeyes open the 2022 season on Friday, May 13 versus the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Shaw Park.