John Lamb (lambjo02)

John Michael Lamb

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 205 lb.
• High School Laguna Hills High School
• Debut August 14, 2015
• Final Game June 26, 2018
• Born July 10, 1990 in La Palma, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher John Lamb began his professional career in 2009. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 5th round of the 2008 amateur draft, one pick after pitcher Justin Wilson, and was signed by scouts John Ramey and Gary Johnson.

In his first pro season, he averaged 9.3 strikeouts per 9 innings. Entering 2010, Baseball America named him the #7 prospect in the Royals system and he did not disappoint - he went 10-7 with a 2.38 ERA in 28 starts, striking out 159 batters in 147 2/3 innings, while allowing only 122 hits and 45 walks for the Burlington Bees, Wilmington Blue Rocks and Northwest Arkansas Naturals. He was a MiLB.com Organization All-Star and a Baseball America Minor League All-Star that year.

Entering 2011, B.A. ranked him the #18 prospect in all of baseball and the #4 prospect in the Royals chain. Baseball Prospectus named him the #11 prospect in the game and MLB.com ranked him #34. He went 1-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 8 starts for the Naturals that year, missing most of the campaign to Tommy John surgery. He went into 2012 as the 82nd-best prospect in the minors and the #6 prospect in the Royals chain, as judged by Baseball America, but struggled that year to a 6.92 ERA in 6 rookie league starts.

He spent most of 2013 with Wilmington, but also pitched three games with the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (1-2, 6.75 ERA), going 5-14 with a 5.80 ERA in 22 starts overall. In 2014, with Omaha, he was 8-10 with a 3.97 ERA in 27 games (26 starts). He began 2015 with Omaha and went 9-1, 2.67 in 17 starts before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds on July 26th. He and fellow pitching prospects Brandon Finnegan and Cody Reed went to the Reds in exchange for ace Johnny Cueto. After 3 starts with the Louisville Bats, during which he had an ERA of 2.65 in 17 innings, he was called up to the Queen City to make his big league debut.

Starting for the Reds against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 14, 2015 in his first big league game, he gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings and was charged with a 5-3 loss.

Related Sites

• John Lamb on mlb.com
• BR Minors page