Dodgers News: Lance Lynn Happy for a Fresh Start in LA
Lance Lynn is a Los Angeles Dodger. President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman acquired him on Friday in order to shore up a starting rotation that has been beset by a deluge of injuries and subpar performances.
It was clear in the days leading up to MLB’s August 1 trade deadline that the rotation needed a reset — the pitching staff ERA of 4.51, ranking 22nd in the sport, is evidence enough of that.
So LA got on the phone and made a swap for Lynn, a righty who’s looking forward to a fresh start himself.
There’s no getting around the fact that it’s been a career-worst year for him.
An All-Star in 2021, Lynn’s now looking at a ledger that shows — among other things — a 6.47 ERA, a 2.1 HR/9 ratio, and a 1.46 WHIP. If wins above replacement is your thing, it hasn’t gone well for him there either, with a -1.3 WAR in a season that’s been noteworthy for all the wrong reasons.
He’s still racking up strikeouts with his 10.8 K/9 ratio — a number that’s on pace for a career high in the most confounding of seasons for the 36-year-old — but Lynn is well aware he needs to improve his overall performance, and he’s looking forward to getting that opportunity out west.
“It’s a clean slate because you’re on a new team, but you don’t forget the last four months, either. There’s a lot of positives that you can take and the negatives that I’ve had this year, I need to figure out how to make sure those don’t come back up.”
“I’ve had some ups and downs this year, for sure,” he said. “When you look at ERA and wins and losses, it’s the worst I’ve had in my career. And then you look at strikeouts per nine and stuff like that, they’re the best I’ve ever had.
via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register
The most confusing of years starts a new chapter on Tuesday when Lynn will take the mound against the Oakland Athletics. He’ll have new threads on, new surroundings, and he hopes that leads to the success that’s been so hard for him to capture in 2023.
An outing against the A’s is definitely a soft landing for a pitcher that’s still trying to have things click. They have a team OPS of just .661, ranking them dead last in the sport where they also sit at the bottom in the win column.
For Lynn, it’s a perfect chance to get his wayward year back on the right track and try to provide his new team some reliability in the rotation.
Reliability hasn’t been a word associated with him so far, but he’s got a fresh start in the hopes of restoring the dependability he’s had in the past.
Photo Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
