Angels ink Lucchesi to Major League deal to bolster bullpen

LOS ANGELES -- Bullpen help is on the way for the Angels as Spring Training comes to a close.

The Angels announced Tuesday night that they have signed left-handed reliever Joey Lucchesi, and he will be on the Opening Day roster.

This comes as the team also announced that right-handed reliever Kirby Yates was placed on the 15-day IL with left knee inflammation.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said that Kirby’s knee started bothering him about a week ago. He also said this isn’t too concerning and that the Angels are just being cautious with Yates so they don’t risk making the injury worse this early in the season.

Lucchesi sported a 3.76 ERA in 38 1/3 innings in his first year as a reliever last year. The 32-year-old’s career has been up and down since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021, and last season was the first year he had more innings pitched in the Majors than in the Minors since the surgery.

The Giants released Lucchesi on Sunday. He only threw three innings in Spring Training.

Despite not having an above-average strikeout rate, Lucchesi makes up for it by filling up the zone and generating soft contact. In 2025, he posted a 7.3% walk rate, which is better than the 8.4% league average, and a 51.7% ground-ball rate, where the league average is 44.2%.

“I faced him, actually, when I played when he was a starter with the Padres,” Suzuki said. “I know he's got a funky delivery. I know he's had some success the last, I believe, couple years with the Giants. I know he was in the bullpen with the Giants last year. I imagine him being really tough on lefties.”

Lucchesi is now the third left-hander in the Angels bullpen with Drew Pomeranz and Brent Suter. Suzuki believes it’s a good problem to have.

“You have three options,” Suzuki said. “They can't pitch every day. So some guys are going to be down and to be able to have another two options potentially on any given night is definitely a benefit for us and something that we're going to need.”