January 25, 2018

Jake Lamb has two major splits: lefty/righty and first half/second half split. He does well against right-handed pitchers, with a slash line of .282 average, .386 on-base percentage, and .552 slugging. However, he does poorly against left-handed pitchers, slashing .144/.269/.288. Additionally, Lamb’s career performance in the first half is a stark contrast to that of the second half. Similar to his splits from 2016, he had a .279 first half average and a .204 second half average in 2017. The silver lining is that, even in Lamb’s terrible second half splits, his batting average on balls in play was poor and his weighted on base average was a lot closer to league average. Another positive is that Lamb had an elite walk rate, even against left-handed pitchers, with an overall BB of 13.7%. One concern is that Chase Field is not the same hitter-friendly park. The humidor will affect all the hitters, including Lamb; expect him to lose a few HRs. Lamb can be drafted in the eighth round if you are in need of a third baseman or enjoy streaming him in favorable matchups. If you own him in dynasty leagues, play him selectively, if possible, and then attempt to trade him around midseason. Riskier dynasty managers will keep Lamb on their rosters past the All-Star break to see if this year will prove different than past years.--Ellis Canady - RotoBaller