Lance Lynn Answering the Call for St. Louis Cardinals, Looking for 4th Win Tonight

Published: 25^th Apr 12 7:43 am

by Tom Froemming
MLB blogger

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Lance Lynn Answering the Call for St. Louis Cardinals, Looking for 4th Win Tonight

Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

Lance Lynn first gained national notoriety during the World Series when then St. Louis Cardinals manger Tony LaRussa asked for Jason Motte over the bullpen phone and instead got Lynn. This year, new Cards manager Mike Matheny was hoping to call on Chris Carpenter as his ace, but Lynn has answered that call, too.

Lynn has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball to start the season, going 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 0.74 WHIP. The 6-5, 250-pound right-hander has allowed just one earned run in each of his three starts, all of which came against division rivals. Lynn will face the Chicago Cubs for the second time this season tonight.

At this point last year, Lynn was in the rotation for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. He went 7-3 with a 3.84 ERA over 12 starts before being called up to the St. Louis bullpen. The Indianapolis native settled into his new role, posting a 3.12 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 34.3 innings for the Cardinals.

The defending World Series champion Cardinals are 11-7 so far in 2012, thanks to a pitching staff that has registered a 2.74 ERA and a lineup that has compiled a .441 slugging percentage.

Another pitcher who has looked good transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation is Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox. He has a 3.50 ERA and has struck out 10.5 K/9. Sale will face off tonight with Jarrod Parker, who will make his Oakland Athletics debut and second-career start.

Fantasy baseball players might want to keep an eye on the Toronto Blue Jays-Baltimore Orioles game tonight. Kyle Drabek (2-0, 2.00) and Jason Hammel (2-0, 2.37) have both pitched well this season, and are available in the majority of fantasy formats.

The night cap in Los Angeles features a pair of pitchers with sub-1.00 ERAs. Brandon Beachy has a 0.47 ERA while Ted Lilly boasts a 0.69 mark.

You would think Barry Zito vs. Bronson Arroyo at Great American Ballpark would provide big potential for home runs, but both veterans have pitched well this season. Zito has a 1.71 ERA and Arroyo has a 2.91 ERA.

Other highlight matchups include Cole Hamels vs. Trevor Cahill and C.J. Wilson vs. Jeremy Hellickson. Felix Hernandez, Jordan Zimmermann, Ubaldo Jimenez and Shaun Marcum are also slated to pitch today, making it a great day to catch a game.

FULL SCHEDULE
Rockies (Nicasio) at Pirates (McDonald), 12:35 p.m. ET (DH1)
Rockies (Chacin) at Pirates (Morton), TBD (DH2)
Astros (Happ) at Brewers (Marcum), 1:10
Cardinals (Lynn) at Cubs (Volstad), 2:20
White Sox (Sale) at Athletics (Parker), 3:35
Phillies (Hamels) at Diamondbacks (Cahill), 3:40
Nationals (Zimmermann) at Padres (Wieland), 6:35
Royals (Hochevar) at Indians (Jimenez), 7:05
Mariners (Hernandez) at Tigers (Wilk), 7:05
Blue Jays (Drabek) at Orioles (Hammel), 7:05
Angels (Wilson) at Rays (Hellickson), 7:10
Marlins (Buehrle) at Mets (Dickey), 7:10
Giants (Zito) at Reds (Arroyo), 7:10
Yankees (Hughes) at Rangers (Feldman), 8:05
Red Sox (Buchholz) at Twins (Hendricks), 8:10
Braves (Beachy) at Dodgers (Lilly), 10:10

Pitching Primer, which previews the day’s pitching probables, is a regular feature on Rant Sports. It paint’s a picture of America’s Pastime’s potentially perfect matchups. If you’ve got a pedigree of predicting future aces, take pride in your penchant for pitching or have a poetic prose, please leave a comment. Pitching Primer is posted practically every morning by Tom Froemming, but he‘s no perfectionist. Plus, days off are primarily provided so the “p” on his keyboard can have a break.

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