KC Royals: John Lamb Deserves Shot In KC Rotation

KC Royals AAA Omaha pitcher John Lamb deserves a chance to start in Kansas City. After pitching a four-hit, two-run gem with 10 strikeouts in Omaha’s 4-2 victory over the Iowa Cubs Tuesday night, Lamb’s record sits at 7-1 with a 2.91 ERA.

The 25-year-old Lamb is all the way back from his struggles following Tommy John surgery in 2011. He’s once again the fire-balling lefty that Baseball Prospectus rated the 11th best prospect in baseball in 2011, and 82nd best after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. 

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After falling off the prospect radar due to difficulty in rehab, John Lamb worked his way back onto the prospect picture with a solid 2014. His performance in 2015 has established his potential to be a major-league starter.

This spring, Lamb’s velocity zoomed back to 94 mph up from 90 mph in 2014. His results have backed up his improved fastball. John Lamb is striking out 8.6 hitters per every nine innings pitched (K/9), and his walk rate has dropped to 3.0  BB/9 compared to 4.4 BB/9 last season.

He’s the Omaha Storm Chasers’ best starter and is ready for a shot in the KC Royals rotation.

What I don’t understand is why general manager Dayton Moore has yet to make the call. The Kansas City Royals (until today) had three starting pitchers on the disabled list. With Danny Duffy‘s recall to pitch against he Mariners Wednesday night, the team still has Yordano Ventura and Jason Vargas on the mend.

Meanwhile, Moore brought up Aaron Brooks. He’s given innings to Yohan Pino. He interrupted Brandon Finnegan‘s development as a starter to use him in the KC Royals pen. He’s allowed Jeremy Guthrie to get lit up for a 5.90 ERA in  14 starts.

Why is John Lamb twiddling his thumbs in Omaha?

Rumors are flying that the Kansas City Royals are inquiring after Reds starters Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake. Landing an ace certainly makes sense. But, why are they chasing a mid-rotation guy like Leake? Such a deal doesn’t make sense until they’ve given John Lamb a shot with the Kansas City Royals rotation.

He’s on the 40-man roster, so Dayton Moore doesn’t have to juggle prospects to call him to Kansas City.

The KC Royals need starting pitching. Their 4.46 starter ERA ranks 22nd in major-league baseball.

John Lamb has shown enough command that you can expect he will succeed in The Show.

Just look at what Mike Montgomery did the to Kansas City Royals Tuesday night. Dayton Moore needs to find out what he has before the trade deadline. Otherwise, Moore might waste prospects getting help when the solution is winning games in the Pacific Coast League.

Doesn’t make sense to me.

Next: John Lamb Continues To Impress

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