The Reds announced today that they’ve designated left-hander John Lamb for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Ariel Hernandez. Lamb recently underwent his second back surgery in the past 10 months, giving him a chance to clear waivers.
Originally acquired from the Royals alongside Brandon Finnegan and Cody Reed (in exchange for Johnny Cueto), the 26-year-old Lamb has struggled in both of his two seasons with the Reds. Injuries have long plagued the once vaunted pitching prospect, as he also underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer. There was a time when both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus regarded Lamb as one of baseball’s top 20 prospects, but it’s now been five years since he received that distinction. In 119 2/3 innings as a Major Leaguer, all with the Reds, Lamb has a 6.17 ERA, although his 110-to-50 K/BB ratio is somewhat encouraging. Home runs have been Lamb’s primary downfall, as he’s yielded 1.65 HR/9 to this point in his big league career.
As for Hernandez, the 24-year-old Dominican righty was originally signed by the Giants but ultimately wound up pitching in independent ball in 2015 before the D-backs gave him another chance. While Hernandez posted just a 6.04 ERA in 22 1/3 innings in the Arizona system in 2015, the Reds saw something they liked and picked him up in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft and were rewarded for that show of faith. While Hernandez was old to be pitching in the Class-A Midwest League and Class-A Advanced Florida State League, the combined 2.18 ERA, 10.7 K/9 rate and 54.6 percent ground-ball rate he compiled are nonetheless impressive. Control appears to be an issue, as he did average 5.7 walks per nine innings. Scouting reports on the right-hander are scarce, though Baseball America did list him as a “rising” prospect in the Cincinnati system in July, noting that he’s still “way too wild” but possesses one of baseball’s best fastball/curveball combos and has drawn some 80 grades from scouts on both pitches (BA subscription required and recommended).
A calculated risk on Lamb and probably a good one. As for Hernandez, if you have a guy with two 80-grade pitches, you protect him. Those guys are rare.
Genuine question: If hernandez has two 80 grade pitches how come he ended up in an independent league and hasn’t gotten past A+ ball as an almost 25 year old? Late bloomer?
Good question. A lot of it is consistency. When Hernandez is on, his arsenal is terrific. When he’s off, which is quite often, he’s Ricky Vaughn. A fairly good comp might be Derrick Turnbow..
A big IF but if he can get his injuries in check I think he’d make an overpowering lefty out of the bullpen.
Nothing about Lamb is ‘overpowering’, at least not since he had Tommy John surgery years ago. His fastball averaged 89.5mph this season, his focus is on changing speeds and keeping guys confused, throwing pitches at 65mph (curve), 75mph (changeup), cutter (85mph) and fastball (90mph). He has one of the largest discrepancies in velocity between pitches he throws in MLB, which is largely how he got so many strikeouts in 2015.
I’m a big fan of Lamb’s – he’ll make opposing hitters look silly when they’re looking for 90mph and get a 65mph pitch – but his stuff is starter/swingman/inning eater stuff. I don’t see him as a lefty specialist or setupman.
I hope he clears waivers and remains in the Reds’ system. If not, fine, good for him, I hope he gets healthy and gets an extended look elsewhere. Great American Ballpark isn’t exactly an ideal environment for him, while somewhere like Petco might be.
I’m thinking Seattle should give lamb a shot, how hard does he throw tho?
Never mind I thought he was a reliever, should have read the article more closely the first time.
Lamb has potential, if he can stay healthy, to be a solid lefty out of the pen. If he remains in the Reds organization, he might find himself in that role when he returns.
I’d like the Angels to take a hard look at Lamb. Eppler seems to like former prospects (Meyer/Banuelos) so adding Lamb may fit that mold. Does he have options?
Lamb is out of options and the Reds say he won’t be ready for the start of the 2017 season.
Lamb is a soft tosser injures have sapped his velocity and without it there isn’t enough of velocity change for his stuff to work. At best I see him as a breaking ball reliever like Sean Marshall.
Shame because he did have swing and miss stuff in 2015. Multiple back injuries have just taken to much from him though I really hope I’m wrong and he finds that lost mph. Needs to get back to even the low 90s to succeed. Last year he was working in upper 80s
Very wild. He has improved his BB/9, but it’s still high.
Lamb can elect FA so sorry Reds fans, unless you re-sign him, he’s going elsewhere. Honestly, Lamb’s a guy I would claim. He’s a young lefty starter who ranked eleventh in the Reds system pre-season. His velocity can max at 92-93 and if the rotation thing doesn’t work out, put him in the BP. Maybe lessening his per game work load will improve his velocity as it did for Wade Davis, see him start hitting 95 again as a lefty set-up man.
I liked what I saw of him in a couple games I watched him pitch last year. Could be a low cost option for Marlins. They’re looking everywhere for pitching, and showed an improvement last year in helping to correct their pitchers, sans Chen