Yesterday, the Cincinnati Reds brought up recently acquired pitching prospect John Lamb to face the L.A. Dodgers. It wasn’t the prettiest of performances and he left with a line of 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Most of the damage came with two outs in the fifth with a Justin Turner RBI single and an Adrian Gonzalez three-run blast. I watched a good amount of it and wasn’t all too impressed. He’s primarily a Fastball/Changeup pitcher who has developed into a finesse pitcher, but his command wasn’t particularly sharp. What did stand out was a Cutter he threw 10 times at around 88 MPH that resulted in five whiffs. If he integrates that more into his mix, he could be more of a strikeout pitcher, but I don’t see Lamb as a guy with all too much upside moving forward. If you were hoping to find lightning in a bottle, he could shine a few times, but I don’t see him making a major impact like some other prospect pitchers.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Corey Kluber – 9.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BB, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Good to see Klubs pick it up the last two times after making owners quiver a little for a few weeks.
Jaime Garcia – 8.1 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Now there’s the Garcia we’ve been waiting for since his return to the DL. Hopefully he stays healthy ROS.
Dallas Keuchel – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BB, 8 Ks. A nice little bounceback from Keuchel, but come on man, where are my CGSHO?! Are you serious Nick? No.
Bartolo Colon – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. The Big Apple may be my favorite nickname around and he killed it last night. Too bad he sandwiches these outings with clunkers, forcing you to open the booze cabinet every time you plug him into your lineup.
Max Scherzer – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. That makes a combined 18 ER across his last 5 starts – which includes a start with 0 ER. Man, I really should have swapped Kershaw with Scherzer way back in June…But seriously, he’ll be fine. Just one of those stretches.
Julio Teheran – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Wow, he really is playing up the “every other start” game. He’s collected 8, 11, 7, 7, Ks, with starts of 5, 4, 3 Ks in between. Huh.
Wily Peralta – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. A complete One Night Bland.
Joe Kelly – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. It was a big gamble and it paid off for those needing it. What I need is for Kelly to not be a consistent heart-attack but you know, you can’t always get what you want.
Danny Duffy – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Duffy managed to squeak out a good rate start with a low K total which seems to be a theme for tonight. It’s a One Night Bland.
Tom Koehler – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks. He’s not a good pitcher but some dogs have their day, including that day where they get snipped at the vet. Fortunately, it wasn’t that day.
Ivan Nova – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks. It’s hard to get a read on Nova as he has strikeout stuff but has had starts like these where he strikes out an oddly low number of batters. He did well against Toronto and should be a decent streamer moving forward.
J.A. Happ – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 7 Ks. That Happened. You know, Happ actually being a productive member of some person’s staff way out there.
Jered Weaver – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. So you’re saying he doesn’t strikeout at least one batter per inning? Weird.
Adam Morgan – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 K. Morgan is much more exciting as a pirate. Like WAY more.
Nathan Karns – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks. His pitch count got up because his command was just not there. I’m not losing my faith in Karns though.
Alex Wood – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Man, he just so bleghy these days. You were the chosen one Wood!
David Price – 7.1 IP, 3 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. He got Singled Out by the Yanks as the Blue Jays finally had their win streak snapped. Nice going Price.
Martin Perez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BB, 1 K. Blegh.
Tyson Ross – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Those walks will forever haunt Tyson. Maybe one day he’ll figure it out, but I ain’t investing in it.
Trevor May – 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. May has been doing bullpen work, so it comes to no surprise that he wasn’t allowed to get too deep in his pitch count today. There will be a few more shortened starts like this before he gets regular time. There is some concern that it won’t be long given that Jose Berrios is on the verge of a callup, so monitor the situation carefully.
Yohan Flande – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Flande has limited upside, pitches his home games at Coors Field, and doesn’t deserve a spot on your team. This should be the blurb for every Colorado starter.
Brad Mills – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 1 K. Just a Cup of Schmo.
Ubaldo Jimenez – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Ah yes, the ripping-out-my-hair-to-be-Ubaldo-like-you phase.
Alfredo Simon – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Nope.
Robbie Ray – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 0 Ks. Weird, Ray was supposed to be the guy with K upside, not the one who walks too many guys and should be avoided.
Matt Cain – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. The Cain you know and kinda like is gone. You knew this for a while, but make sure you’ve fully accepted it.
Jeff Samardzija – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Loose Lips is back sinking ships.
Kyle Hendricks – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Ouch, this one hurts as our Call Boy couldn’t get the job done. Hendricks has been a lot more hot/cold than I expected this season, and he’ll be taking a hit come Monday.
Mike Montgomery – 2.1 IP, 9 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BB, 1 K. Monty, there was a time you looked so dang fine and now, look at you! I wouldn’t touch you with a 10 foot pole from inside a hazmat suit.
Today’s Streamers
Jimmy Nelson vs. Philadelphia Phillies – He’s struck out 8 batters three times in his last five starts, and he could be a solid against a weak Philly lineup.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Taylor Jungmann vs. Philadelphia Phillies – He’s a groundball specialist who can churn out a victory and gather the Ks along the way.
Game of the Day
Josh Tomlin vs. Minnesota Twins – He was somewhat productive last year as a starter, and I’m curious to see what he looks like now.