Houston Astros: Five reasons Lance Lynn works as a trade option

Full recovery from Tommy John with good numbers

Lance Lynn missed all of last year having undergone Tommy John surgery. In the past that used to be a death sentence for pitchers as it was questionable if they would be the same or able to recover from it.

That no longer is the case and Lance Lynn is proving that. Here are his numbers this year: 102 innings pitched in 18 starts with a 3.61 ERA and he’s posting the lowest WHIP of his career (outside of his rookie year where he only made two starts) at 1.13.

With the health issues of our rotation and how much work it’s putting on the bullpen, Lance Lynn could help alleviate that by making 15 more starts and throwing 80 more innings for a team that could use a healthy starter who can go a full six or seven innings on the regular.

Of his 18 starts on the year, eight have been quality starts.

Now let’s compare these numbers to the other two starters currently slotted in the back end of our rotation:

• Charlie Morton has pitched 11 starts throwing 63 innings with a 3.82 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP and four quality starts out of those 11 starts.
• Mike Fiers has pitched 17 starts throwing 93.2 innings with a 3.84 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP and seven quality starts out of those 17 starts.

Morton has pitched above average but given his injury history, Lynn is a solid option to come in should Morton’s bad luck with his body parts continue. And while Fiers is comparable this year to Lynn, he doesn’t have nearly the same track record. Which brings me to my next point…