Early Player Thoughts: Lance Lynn

I thought, as a way to get myself going, I’d take a look at how some players are doing, guys who either struggled last year or missed 2016 entirely.

Lance Lynn is one of the latter guys, having missed last season due to surgery.

Before the surgery, Lance had emerged as a reliable starter, averaging 175-200 innings and 30 starts a year for 4 straight years. He was an all-star in his first full season, 2012, but his best years were 2014 and 15, right when he entered his prime. Then injury struck and he lost 2016. Everyone was curious to see how he rebounded from that.

So far, so good.

He’s 4-1 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.195 WHIP. His K’s are slightly down at 8.2 K/9, compared to 8.6 K/9 in 2015, and his walks are up at 3.7 compared to 3.5, but some of that is due to his last start, where, while we won, it was mostly due to the offense picking Lynn up, as he struggled, going 4 innings, allowing 4 runs and walking four, unusual for a guy who usually has better control, but even Clayton Kershaw has bad starts, so it’ll be interesting to see how Lynn rebounds.

If his struggles continue, it could be a matter of batters simply re-acquainting themselves with him after his year off, or just a hot start. My hope, though is it really was one bad start, and he continues his upward progression.

I like Lynn better than Mike Leake for non-statistical and personal reasons. I love it when homegrown talent succeeds. I’m a fan of the almost gone “a player plays for one team his entire career” era. Like everyone else, I was heartbroken when Albert Pujols left (which may have worked out better in the long run, but still.) and ecstatic when Yadi re-signed, since he deserves to retire a Cardinal, after all that he has given our team. (Admittedly the tightwad in me hopes that Lynn’s familiarity with the club might lead to a hometown discount if the Cards try to re-sign him when the time comes.)

As always, thanks for reading.

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NL Central Standings

TeamWLPct.GB
Cardinals9369.574 -
Brewers8676.5317.0
Cubs7488.45719.0
Reds62100.38331.0
Pirates62100.38331.0

Last updated: 10/06/2022

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