Dinelson Lamet

Dinelson Lamet Hernandez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 187 lb.

• Debut May 25, 2017

• Born July 18, 1992 in Santiago, Santiago D.R.

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Biographical Information

Dinelson Lamet was signed by San Diego Padres scouts Randy Smith, Felix Feliz, Emenegildo Diaz and Jose Salado in 2014 and began his professional career that season with the DSL Padres. He was already 21 at the time, rather old for a player signed as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic, which may explain while he moved up directly to the Midwest League in 2015, going 5-8, 2.99 for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. he had an excellent season in 2016, pitching at three different levels and ending up in AAA. He started off with the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League, where he went 7-1, 2.35 in 12 starts. In AA with the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League, he was 5-7, 3.39 in 14 starts, and he finished the year with a pair of starts with the El Paso Chihuahuas of the Pacific Coast League, losing both. Overall, he went 12-10, 3.00 in 28 starts, with 158 strikeouts in 150 innings.

He started the 2017 season back at El Paso, and was 3-2, 3.23 after 8 starts when he was called up to San Diego on May 25th. In his first start, he defeated the New York Mets, 4-3, allowing only 1 run in 5 innings and striking out 8 on a rainy evening in Queens, NY. The run came on a solo homer by Lucas Duda. He made 21 starts in his rookie season, going 7-8, 4.57 while pitching 114 1/3 innings. He was expected to be the team's number 2 starter in 2018, but experienced discomfort in his elbow after a spring training start on March 25th. He started the year on the disabled list, but it soon became apparent that he needed reconstructive elbow surgery, wiping out his entire season.

He came back in 2019 to make 14 starts for the Padres, after making his return on July 4th. He took his turn regularly the rest of the way and pitched well, going 3-5, 4.07 in 73 innings. In 2020, the Padres took a big step forward and he was one of their best pitchers, making 12 starts in the abbreviated season and going 3-1, 2.09. In 69 innings, he allowed just 39 hits and struck out 93 batters, the sort of numbers that would normally be posted by a top closer. His ERA was the lowest ever by a Padres starter. He was helped by what scouts described as a "devastating" slider, ranked by many as the best example of this pitch in the majors. Unfortunately, his season ended just before he could take part in the postseason for the first time because of what was describes as a "biceps ailment".

In 2021, Dinelson went 2-4, 4.40 in 22 games for San Diego, including 9 starts, pitching 47 innings. His hit rate went up significantly, as he gave up 47, along with 22 walks, but he did strike out 57 batters. Still, he was nowhere near the dominating pitcher he had been the previous year. In 2022, he was again slowed down by injuries in the first half making just 13 appearances in relief and pitching 12 1/3 innings, with poor results, including an ERA of 9.49. On August 1st, he was included in the most surprising trade of that year's trading deadline, in which the Padres and Milwaukee Brewers swapped closers, with Josh Hader going to san Diego and Taylor Rogers to Milwaukee. Lamet, P Robert Gasser and OF Esteury Ruiz accompanied Rogers to the Midwest. What made the trde surprising was that both teams were in a position to make the postseason, that there had been absolutely no rumors about a potential move of Hader, and that both closers had struggled badly in July. Two dats after the trade and before he had appeared in a game with the Brewers, he was designated for assignment.

Further Reading

• Matt Kelly: "Does this pitcher possess MLB’s best slider? No recent pitcher has matched volume, dominance of Lamet's slider", mlb.com, February 27, 2021. [1]

Related Sites

• Dinelson Lamet on mlb.com