Tampa Bay Rays: Reportedly acquire John Lamb from Reds
Tampa Bay Rays to acquire once touted pitching prospect John Lamb for cash, possible late season addition to rotation.
Zach Links of MLBTrade Rumors broke the news first via Twitter that the Reds had agreed to trade pitcher John Lamb to the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, there has been no official announcement by the Tampa Bay Rays or Cincinnati Reds. John Heyman of FanRag Sports followed that up as he tweeted that the Rays are sending cash back in return.
The Reds designated Lamb, who has undergone surgeries to repair herniated disks, was designated for assignment on October 27 after undergoing his second back surgery in two years.
The Cincinnati Reds acquired Lamb, along with pitchers Brandon Finnegan and Cody Reed from the Kansas City Royals in the Johnny Cueto trade in July 2015.
Once touted as one of the top 20 prospects in all of baseball by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus while with the Royals.
injuries though has caused Lamb to miss almost two full seasons while in the minors. Those injuries included back surgeries (Dec. 2015) to repair herniated disks and Tommy John surgery (June 2011) .
In 24 starts over the past two seasons, Lamb went 2-12 with a 6.17 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 119 2/3 innings. This past year, Lamb began the season on the disabled list before making his 2016 debut on May 3.
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In 14 starts (a career high), Lamb struggled immensely going 1-7 with a 6.43 ERA in 70 innings despite striking out 58 with 31 walks before the Reds optioned him to Triple-A Louisville on July 17.
While with Louisville, Lamb made three more starts before an elbow injury in August sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
As a rookie in 2015 with the Reds, Lamb registered a 5.80 ERA across 49.2 innings of work in 10 starts. He posted 58 strikeouts against 19 walks while producing a record of 1-5.
However, Lamb was 10-2 with a 2.67 ERA in 20 starts with 9.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 111 1/3 innings between the Royals and Reds Triple-A teams.
Drafted by the Royals in the 5th round of the 2008 Draft from Laguna Hills H.S. (Laguna Hills, CA.) Baseball America rated him No. 18 pre-2011 while Baseball Prospectus rated him No. 11 pre-2011 and falling to No. 82 in their pre-2012 rating.
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Lamb is out of minor league options and he could potentially begin the 2017 season on the disabled list as reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times via Twitter.
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