Jake Lamb

Lamb opened the 2020 season as the Diamondbacks' left-handed designated hitter, but an early slump pushed him to the bench, where he backed up both corner-infield spots. In early September, Lamb was slashing just .116/.240/.140 with a 34.0 K%, prompting Arizona to designate him for assignment. After Lamb cleared waivers, Oakland signed him to fill in for the injured Matt Chapman. Lamb responded by posting a .267/.327/.556 line, fanning just 16.3% of the time. Small sample caveats apply, but after gaining a reputation as a platoon batter, Lamb fared better facing southpaws the past two seasons. Still just 30 years old, Lamb could land a job as a reserve after his strong finish. The inventory is sufficiently deep to keep Lamb on the fantasy sidelines in mixed leagues, though he's useful in single-league formats as he carries eligibility at first and third in most leagues.

Since Lamb posted identically productive seasons in 2016-2017, it's been all downhill as he followed with a pair of disappointing campaigns. Injuries played a part, though last year Lamb's offensive woes cost him significant playing time down the stretch. He opened 2019 on the strong side of a platoon before being placed on the IL with a Grade 2 left quad strain April 5. When Lamb returned June 26, he saw action at both corner infield spots but never found a groove. His playing time dwindled down the stretch, often sitting with a righty on the hill. Curiously, Lamb's underlying metrics from the past two seasons aren't significantly different from the pair before that. His contact and hard-hit rates are consistent over his last four campaigns, boding well for a rebound. Lamb is strictly a late flier, but there's pathways to playing time at first and third base with a strong spring.

Lamb's season ended on July 26 after he injured his shoulder making a tough catch of a foul pop while running from the shortstop area as he was in a shifted position with Cody Bellinger at the plate. It was the second such time Lamb injured his shoulder making a diving catch, but this one needed surgery to correct. Lamb's season was incredibly disappointing after his big 2017 season, and a barking shoulder was a significant contributing factor. He had four home runs over the first two weeks of June and just two the rest of the time he played. Lamb continues to struggle against lefties and is best left on the bench anytime a southpaw is on the mound. Even the numbers against righties suffered a noticeable drop off. Lamb earned the nickname "Rake" for a reason, and we cannot discount 2016 and 2017 with recency bias. If the shoulder is healthy, the gardening can resume.

Lamb's second season as an everyday player for the D-backs looks nearly identical to his first one -- he continued to mash against right-handed pitching (.282/.386/.552, 133 wRC+, 20.5 percent K%) only to struggle against lefties (.144/.269/.288, 44 wRC+, 34.6 percent K%). To his credit, Lamb has shown the ability to walk against lefties in each of the last two seasons, and his overall walk rate peaked at 13.7 percent in 2017. As was the case in 2016, Lamb's first-half production (.922 OPS) was significantly better than his second half (.735 OPS), but there is no clear cause behind that trend to this point. Entering his age-27 season, it will be interesting to see if he's given a third year of regular exposure to southpaws, but a strong supporting cast will go a long way toward stabilizing his value even if his overall volume of playing time takes a hit and the new humidor in Chase Field saps his power some.

Last season was Lamb's coming out party, though it wasn't a consistent one. He came into the year with 10 career home runs in his first 476 MLB at-bats, then proceeded to slug 29 home runs. It could have been an even bigger season, but he cooled after a great start. In his first 76 games, Lamb had 16 home runs, 52 RBI and a .286/.366/.584 line. In his next 75 games, those numbers dropped to 13 home runs, 39 RBI and a .213/.299/.437 line. If he plays near the level of his 2016 first half, he's an elite fantasy contributor. He hasn't shown the ability to hit lefties at all (63 wRC+ against LHP in 2016, 50 wRC+ against LHP for his career), but the new regime has said they plan on treating him as an everyday player, so southpaws may continue to drain his batting average. His second half slump will lower the price considerably, and he still has room for growth entering his age-26 season.

Lamb won the starting third base job out of spring training in 2015 and started the season on fire, collecting 12 hits in his first 29 at-bats. However, he suffered a foot injury on April 18, which put him on the shelf for about two months. It was poor timing for the 24-year-old, who seemed to be finding his groove at the MLB level. Lamb would finish the season hitting .263 across 390 plate appearances, while belting six home runs and driving in 34 runs. He will need to improve against left-handed pitchers to take the next step as a player. Last season, he hit .200 against lefties and for his career he’s hitting just .179, which may put him in danger of falling into a platoon in the long run. Lamb figures to get regular playing time in 2016 nonetheless, and if he continues to make strides at the plate, he could be a sneaky option at third base.

After slashing .318/.399/.551 in 103 games at Double-A Mobile, Lamb earned a promotion to Triple-A, and a week later received another promotion to join the big league club. As a 23-year-old, he was given the opportunity to act as Arizona’s primary third baseman over the final two months of the season. His approach at the plate fell off completely after the promotion, walking at just a 4.5% clip over 133 plate appearances -- a far cry from the 13.6% rate he posted in 743 plate appearances in the minors over the past two seasons. The biggest thing working in Lamb’s favor is the dearth of quality third-base options in Arizona. Yasmani Tomas will get the first crack at the starting job but Lamb will be next in line.