Baltimore Orioles Interested in Pitcher Lance Lynn
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Orioles are reportedly interested in free agent starting pitcher Lance Lynn. Lynn played for the St. Louis Cardinals last season.
The Baltimore Orioles are reportedly interested in free agent starting pitcher Lance Lynn, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, on Twitter. Lynn played for the St. Louis Cardinals last season.
The Baltimore Orioles have recently been linked to a number of free agent starting pitchers, including Jason Vargas, Andrew Cashner, Alex Cobb, Tyler Chatwood, and now Lynn. According to Morosi, the Orioles prefer Cobb over Lynn if they had to choose, but they’re interested nonetheless.
Lynn, 30, has pitched for the Cardinals for his entire career, and has been fairly successful with them, keeping his ERA below 3.00 every year of his career, including an excellent 2014 season that saw him pitch to a 2.74 ERA over 203.2 innings pitched.
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Lynn missed all of the 2016 season after having Tommy John surgery, and came back last year to go 11-8 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and a 7.39 K/9. Looking at his peripherals, it’s fair to say there was a good bit of luck involved in his season, as he had a .244 BABIP and a 4.82 FIP, however his batted ball stats look fairly normal outside of an elevated 14.2% HR/FB rate.
Lynn can get his fair share of strikeouts, but doesn’t necessarily have an overpowering repertoire. He throws four pitches: a fastball that averages around 92 MPH, a slider that averages around 87 MPH, a curveball that averages around 79 MPH, and a changeup that averages around 84 MPH.
While Lynn throws some off-speed pitches, the vast majority of the pitches he throws are fastballs. In fact, he threw a fastball 81% of the time last year, and with the movement he gets on his two-seamer, it’s no surprise he throws it so much.
Aside from that, his next go-to pitch is his slider. In fact, almost 93% of the time he throws a fastball or a slider. The curveball and the changeup are used pretty sparingly.
While Lynn would be a useful pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles to have, he likely won’t come cheap. MLBTradeRumors predicted that he would sign with the Texas Rangers for a four-year, $56 million contract.
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Lynn just adds to the list of starting pitcher the Baltimore Orioles have been connected to. Whether they will sign any of these guys is remains to be seen, but it shows that the team is focused on bolstering their rotation.