John Lamb - SP, CIN
Owned in 3% of Yahoo leagues
The Reds went into sell mode at the trade deadline and are spending the second half of their season getting a good long look at some young arms, with rookies now crowding their rotation. Anthony DeSclafani, David Holmberg, Keyvius Sampson and Raisel Iglesias have now been joined by John Lamb as inexperienced hurlers getting their shots.
All are available in a wide range of fantasy leagues, and Lamb might carry the most upside of the bunch.
Cincinnati acquired Lamb from Kansas City in the Johnny Cueto trade and wasted no time getting him into action, promoting the 25-year-old from Triple-A after just three starts with Louisville. In those three starts, Lamb struck out 21 hitters over 17 innings while allowing only five runs. Those numbers were basically in line with what he’d done at Triple-A in the Royals’ system, where he had gone 9-1 with a 2.67 ERA and 96-to-29 K/BB ratio over 94 frames.
In his major-league debut on August 14th, Lamb coughed up five runs over six innings in a losing effort. He improved in his next turn, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings, but gave up nine hits. Things haven’t been all that smooth so far.
However, the lefty’s strikeout stuff has shown through. In his first 11 1/3 big-league innings, Lamb has fanned 15 hitters with only two walks. It certainly appears that his 9.5 K/9 rate at Triple-A was legit. And it also definitely bears noting that his first two starts have come against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, the two highest-ranked offenses (in terms of OPS) in the National League outside of the Rockies.
Going forward, as Lamb gets more acclimated and faces some lighter competition, his results should improve and hopefully the strikeouts will continue to pile up.
Kendry Flores - SP, MIA
Owned in 0% of Yahoo leagues
Flores is an even lesser known rookie than Lamb, but he was recently added to the Marlins rotation after showing some positive signs in the minors this year, and he merits a look in highly competitive deep leagues.
Miami picked up the young Dominican righty from San Francisco in December’s Casey McGehee trade. Flores was coming off a good-not-great season at Single-A, where he went 4-6 with a 4.06 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Those numbers are hardly dominant, but they did come attached to an excellent 112-to-32 K/BB ratio in 105 innings and he was only 22.
He took a big step forward this year at Double-A, posting a 2.06 ERA in nine starts before being called up to join the Marlins bullpen in early June. His stay was brief, lasting just two appearances before he was sent back to the minors, this time to Triple-A.
In his first taste of that level, working in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Flores didn’t miss a beat, putting up a 2.61 ERA over 10 starts while holding opponents to a .224/.270/.320 slash line, with only three homers. The strong performance earned him a recall earlier this month. He made a few relief appearances before sliding into the rotation last week.
Flores had been pitching very well out of the bullpen, where he allowed only two earned runs in 7 2/3 innings, but his first MLB start was rocky. Facing a weak Phillies lineup, he was tagged for five runs on seven hits. He did notch five strikeouts.
It’s tough to predict how Flores will perform going forward. He has the stuff to succeed, complementing a solid fastball with a deep repertoire of secondary pitches, but he lacks experience starting in the majors and his track record in the minors prior to this year was patchy. In any case, he should stick around in the Miami rotation with David Phelps done for the year.
