tyler lumsden and mac the 9th

Fun fact:
tyler lumsden is ambidextrious. it's a proven fact that left-handed, he can throw around 91-95 MPH... while right-handed he tosses an 80's-ish fastball. will we ever see it in a game? let's hope the hell not!

here's me excited we traded for pitching. here's me sad we traded a major leaguer for class A (Daniel Cortes) and AA (tyler lumsden) talent. what's good about lumsden are his numbers... sort of. he's clearly dominating AA ball with a sub-3.00 ERA with 123 IP... what is not great is his SO:BB ratio - 72:40 - in 123 innings. not great, not bad. the best interpretation is that he's a contact hitter that keeps the homers down (9 allowed in AA this year). his arsenal includes a newly developed change-up, a 4 seam fastball, 2 seam fastball, cutter, and curveball. he just starred in the Futures Game, so it looks good for the future... but you wonder how long it'll take for him to make it up and when Hochevar signs. Out of our starting line up this year, none of them are locks for the starting pitching positions. There's no guarantee of greinke, gobble, duckworth, hochevar, hudson, etc. most of these guys are newly inserted and maybe one year wonder flings... which has been known to happen to the Royals (Sisco, Burgos, Nunez).

All comments seem postive about him, though he is 1 year of elbow surgery to repair a bone chip in his throwing arm, so it'll be nice to see him get a break to avoid wear and tear. also, trading mac the 9th allows either burgos to reclaim the role (and find command of the strike zone, he's got the stuff, but no eye for it) or Ryan Braun (26 yrs old, with 12 total saves between AA and AAA with a low 2.00 ERA). Personally, I want Braun up... he throws 96 MPH, has a head on him and is no longer too young to really be ruined by a call-up.

We'll see how Cortes rounds out, he's 19, going to A with a 4.10 ERA (not great, and probably 2-3 years from a call-up, unless he shows SOMETHING that he hasn't yet). I do like how Moore said more trades could be in the works for the next 24-48 hours. I like the move, but personally, I want mid-top of the line AAA pitching or low-mid level talent that is already major league ready and is either a starter or a long reliever that can be converted.